Unvented kerosene space heaters were responsible for 49 cases of the acute carbon monoxide poisonings in France in 2007. This kind of heater may induce chronic intoxications, but no information on these is available. The goal of this thesis is the laboratory quantification of the gaseous emissions from recent models of kerosene space heaters and the preparation of an indoor air quality study in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. Two types of kerosene heaters (wick and injector) were tested in an 8 m3 instrumented environmental chamber. They emit mainly CO2, CO, NO, NO2, particles and some VOCs (especially formaldehyde, benzene, 1,3-butadiene). Emission factors depend upon the kind of heater and upon the type of fuel, and particularly on fatty acid methyl esters and sulphur content. The accumulation of soot on the wick heater during use leads to a high increase of the CO emission factor, and could be responsible for chronic and acute CO intoxications. Field measurements were undertaken to assess the effective exposure of users to pollutants emitted by kerosene space heaters in a complex environment. Kerosene space heater emissions were found to be dominant. This work will be applied to an epidemiological study on respiratory diseases caused by these heaters.
