Abstract
Indoor cooking generates intense, short-duration fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) 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 PM(2.5) 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, PM(2.5) 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 PM(2.5) exposure, offering a simple, low-energy strategy to mitigate short-term health risks in naturally ventilated apartments.