Emission of particulate matter (PM) and polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from 12 selected cookstoves in Asia burning wood fuel, rice husk briquettes and anthracite coal was investigated. Monitoring was conducted using a hood and a semi-VOC sampling train. 17 PAH (16 US EPA priority plus BeP) were analyzed by HPLC-UV to yield PAH in the PM and gas phase samples separately. PM emission factor for wood fuel, rice husk briquettes and anthracite coal, is around 2-5 g kg(-1), 5 g kg(-1) and 7 g kg(-1), respectively. Emission factor of 17 PAH for the two biomass fuels is 24-114 mg kg(-1) and 140 mg kg(-1), respectively. The majority of PAH in the biomass fuel smoke is of light and more volatile PAH with above 86% of the total 17 PAH found in the vapor phase. For the anthracite coal emission factor of 17 PAH was low (2 mg kg(-1)) and found only in the PM phase. PAH content of PM varies with cookstoves and is 0.08-1.64 mg g(-1)(of PM) for total 17 PAH, 0.06-0.98mg g(-1) for genotoxic PAH, and 0.001-0.147 mg g(-1) for BaP alone. Emission data from this study was collated with those previously presented, which provides a broader emission database for domestic combustion. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.