Source-specific exposure and burden of disease attributable to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in China’s residences

High-level exposure to indoor air pollutants (IAPs), including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), has substantially contributed to the burden of disease in China over the past two decades. However, the source contributions to the indoor VOC-related health burden remain unknown. This study utilized a novel approach based on positive matrix factorization (PMF) of indoor multipollutant data to estimate the source-specific residential VOC concentrations and associated burden of disease. Indoor concentrations of 39 VOCs were collected repeatedly in different seasons from 2016 to 2017 in 249 residences across nine cities in China. In 2017, the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to residential VOC exposure across nine provinces in China reached 134.2 (95% UI: 65.7 – 225.0) per 100,000, resulting in financial costs of 28.1 (13.8 – 47.1) billion CNY. Contributions to indoor VOC concentrations from six indoor sources and three outdoor sources were derived by PMF. The top three sources, i.e., wood building materials and furniture, outdoor vehicle exhaust, and cooking and indoor combustion, accounted for 42.7%, 25.9%, and 11.0% of the VOC-attributable DALYs, which suggests prioritizing controlling these sources in China. This approach can be extended to other IAPs and provide fundamental data for future cost-benefit analysis of source control interventions. TOC Art Synopsis This novel method leverages multi-seasonal and multi-room residential VOC measurements to identify emission sources, quantify source-specific exposure concentrations, and estimate source-specific health burden, thus prioritizing the sources needing control.