Abstract
Open combustion appliance is a device which utilizes oxygen in indoor air to combust fuels and releases an exhaust gas into indoor air. It is used for cooking, heating and hot-water supply in a residential house. Especially, there is a great demand for kerosene space heaters in a cold region or cold days. However, we have to care the chemical substances in the exhaust gas, which potentially have adverse health effects by inhalation. In this paper, after reviewing the principles on the generation of air pollutants from open type devices were described focusing on carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Additionally, importance of indoor air quality monitoring was mentioned by demonstrating the field survey on the indoor air pollution by “invisible” NOx.
