Barbecue Fumes: An Overlooked Source of Health Hazards in Outdoor Settings?

Abstract

Barbecuing or charcoal-grilling has become part of popular outdoor recreational activities nowadays; however, potential human health hazards through outdoor exposure to barbecue fumes have yet to be adequately quantified. To fill this knowledge gap, atmospheric size-fractioned particle and gaseous samples were collected near an outdoor barbecuing vendor stall (along with charcoal-grilled food items) in Xinjiang of Northwest China with a 10-stage micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor and a polyurethane foam (PUF) sampler and were analyzed for particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Exposure to PAHs through inhalation and dermal contact by adult consumers who spent 1 h per day near a charcoal-grilling vendor for a normal meal (lunch or dinner) amounted to a BaP equivalent (BaPeq) dosage of 3.0-77 ng day(-1) (inhalation: 2.8-27 ng day(-1) of BaPeq; dermal contact: 0.2-50 ng day(-1) of BaPeq), comparable to those (22-220 ng day(-1) of BaPeq) from consumer exposure through the consumption of charcoal-grilled meat, assumed to be at the upper limit of 50-150 g. In addition, the potential health risk was in the range of 3.1 × 10(-10) to 1.4 × 10(-4) for people of different age groups with inhalation and dermal contact exposure to PAHs once a day, with a 95% confidence interval (7.2 × 10(-9) to 1.2 × 10(-5)) comparable to the lower limit of the potential cancer risk range (1 × 10(-6) to 1 × 10(-4)). Sensitivity analyses indicated that the area of dermal contact with gaseous contaminants is a critical parameter for risk assessment. These results indicated that outdoor exposure to barbecue fumes (particularly dermal contact) may have become a significant but largely neglected source of health hazards to the general population and should be well-recognized.

Network Analysis of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Emissions in China

“…PM 2.5 adverse effects on humans have been studied in various diseases 29 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 , because PM 2.5 contains various elemental components, which are significant in PM 2.5 toxicity 41 42 43 . Moreover, toxicity of particulate matter is suggested to be more directly related to particle surface area rather than to its mass 44 45 .…”

餐厨油烟引起肺癌的毒性机制

“…CFs exposure had been proven to be associated with the increased risk of lung toxicity, immune toxicity, hereditary toxicity, potential carcinogenicity, and so on, 7,14,17 among which, the relationship between lung cancer and CFs exposure was studied most intensively. The association between lung cancer and CFs exposure has been proven in several epidemiologic studies.…”

“…1,[5][6] The production of CFs was recognized as the main source of indoor air pollution. 7 Due to the complex toxic compounds in CFs, CFs exposure may lead to lung toxicity, immune toxicity, hereditary toxicity, potential carcinogenicity, and so on. …”

Cooking Fumes and Relative Diseases

“…Cooking fumes (CFs) are mainly produced through complex chemical reaction during or after cooking [1], which were recognized as a source of negative impacts on air quality and human health [2]. Though the components of CFs may be vary depend on the kinds of food, the kinds of cooking oil and the cooking method [3], it contains many kinds of toxic components such as aldehydes, heterocyclic amines (HCAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fat aerosols and particulate matters (PM) [1,[4][5][6] .…”

“…Though the components of CFs may be vary depend on the kinds of food, the kinds of cooking oil and the cooking method [3], it contains many kinds of toxic components such as aldehydes, heterocyclic amines (HCAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fat aerosols and particulate matters (PM) [1,[4][5][6] . Many studies have demonstrated that exposed to COFs may increase risk of respiratory tract cancer and many other diseases [2,[7][8][9]. However, systematic review about the production, composition, effect to the contacts and reduction methods of cooking fume is still lacking.…”