Carbonyl Emissions from Commercial Cooking Sources in Hong Kong

Abstract

Cooking fumes are an important carbonyl emission source, especially in a highly urbanized city, such as Hong Kong. Cooking exhaust from 15 commercial kitchens of a variety of cooking styles was sampled and analyzed for a suite of 13 carbonyl compounds. Carbonyl compositions were varied among the different cooking styles. Formaldehyde was generally the most abundant carbonyl, and its contribution to the total carbonyl amount on a molar basis ranged from 12 to 60%. Acrolein was also found to be an abundant carbonyl in the cooking exhaust. The highest contribution by acrolein to the total carbonyls was found to be 30% in the exhaust of a western-style steak restaurant. Long-chain saturated carbonyls, that is, heptanal, octanal, and nonanal, accounted for a significant fraction (Ͼ40%) of the total carbonyls in kitchens that always used heated cooking oils. Two dicarbonyls, glyoxal and methylglyoxal, had a various presence in the cooking emissions, ranging from negligible to 10%. The presence of benzaldehyde and tolualdehyde was mostly negligible in the sampled kitchen exhaust. Annual emission rates of both individual carbonyls and total carbonyls were estimated for various types of commercial kitchens. Local-style fast-food shops contributed the highest total carbonyl emissions per year mainly because of the large number of this kind of restaurant in Hong Kong. The citywide annual emission rates of the three most toxic carbonyls, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein, were estimated assuming that the limited number of sampled restaurants were representative of the average restaurants. Such estimates of carbonyl emission rates were comparable to the estimated carbonyl emissions from vehicular sources, suggesting the importance of commercial cooking as a source for carbonyls in Hong Kong.

Risk Assessment of Indoor Formaldehyde and Other Carbonyls in Campus Environments in Northwestern China

“…Cooking emissions from the semi-open kitchen may influence the air quality in the dining area. Our profiles were in agreement with the research results that large amounts of carbonyls (such as formaldehyde, acrolein, and acetaldehyde) can be emitted from combustion of fuels and commercial cooking (Zhang and Smith, 1999;Schauer et al, 2001;Ho et al, 2006). No unique carbonyl profile was observed in the photocopy center (Site W4).…”

Acrolein: Sources, metabolism, and biomolecular interactions relevant to human health and disease

“…It is conceivable that acrolein is co-responsible for these effects. As mentioned in Section 2.3, acrolein emissions from food cooking are far from negligible: the total acrolein emission from commercial kitchens in Hong Kong has been estimated at 7.7 tons per year (see [30]). …”

“…Recently, the total emission of acrolein from commercial kitchens in Hong Kong was estimated at 7.7 tons per year, which far exceeds the annual emission of acrolein from vehicles in that city (1.8 tons/year) [30]. The authors note that the emissions from domestic kitchens and 26% of nonclassifiable commercial kitchens were not included in the estimates.…”

Estimation of CO2 Emissions Produced by Commercial Grills in Veracruz, Mexico

“…and their effects on health [60][61][62][63] to later include CO 2 as an atmospheric pollutant because it is a greenhouse gas with contribution to current climate change [64][65][66].…”

“…The high concentration of CO 2 was associated with inadequate ventilation [65]. The emissions of Chinese restaurants have been compared with the emissions produced by automobiles, such as in the case of the work of Ho et al [66], which measured the production of carbonyls produced by different types of restaurants that included meat grills.…”