# Natural Ventilation Reduces Cooking-Related PM2.5 Peaks Indoors

## TL;DR

Opening windows and doors during cooking significantly reduces indoor PM2.5 levels, lowering health risks in apartments.

## Contribution

Demonstrates that simultaneous natural ventilation during cooking effectively mitigates acute PM2.5 exposure.

## Key findings

- Fully opened ventilation reduced PM2.5 to 14.9 μg/m³ in the living room/kitchen and 15.4 μg/m³ in the bedroom.
- Door-opened only increased PM2.5 by 58.4% in the living room/kitchen and 55.8% in the bedroom.
- Fully closed conditions increased PM2.5 by 28.9% in the living room/kitchen and 27.9% in the bedroom.

## Abstract

Indoor cooking generates
intense, short-duration fine
particulate
matter (PM2.5) peaks with acute health risks. To quantify
the efficacy of natural ventilation configurations, we conducted approximately
two months of continuous monitoring in a modern UK one-bedroom apartment,
comparing three ventilation scenarios during cooking: fully opened
(all windows and internal doors open), door-opened only (internal
doors open but windows closed), and fully closed (all windows and
internal doors closed). Air quality sensors were calibrated against
a reference instrument (Fidas 200E) both before and after the field
deployment. During the study period, outdoor PM2.5 mass
concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 31.0 μg m–3, averaging 6.3 μg m–3. Indoor concentrations
were substantially higher than average outdoor levels, with the fully
opened scenario yielding the lowest exposure at 14.9 μg m–3 in the living room/kitchen and 15.4 μg m–3 in the bedroom. Relative to the fully opened scenario,
PM2.5 concentrations increased by 58.4% (living room/kitchen)
and 55.8% (bedroom) under door-opened only conditions, and under fully
closed conditions by 28.9% and 27.9%, respectively. These findings
demonstrate that simultaneous opening of windows and internal doors
during cooking can substantially reduce acute PM2.5 exposure,
offering a simple, low-energy strategy to mitigate short-term health
risks in naturally ventilated apartments.