Particulate Matter and Volatile Organic Compound Emissions Generated from a Domestic Air Fryer

Abstract

Air frying has become a popular cooking method for domestic cooking, but the level of released indoor air pollutants is poorly understood. In this work, we compared particle and gas phase emission factors (EF) and particle size distributions between cooking with a domestic air fryer and a pan for a variety of foods. The PM 10 EFs of air frying chicken wings and breast were higher than pan cooking by a factor of 2.1 and 5.4, respectively. On the other hand, a higher PM 10 emission factor from air frying can be achieved by increasing the amount of oil to levels similar to or above those from pan-frying for French fries and asparagus. We propose that higher temperature and greater turbulence lead to higher PM 10 EFs for cooking with the air fryer compared with the pan for the same mass of oil added. EFs of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are also generally higher for cooking with the air fryer compared with the pan: 2.5 times higher for French fries and 4.8 times higher for chicken breast. Our study highlights the potential risk of higher indoor PM 10 levels associated with domestic air frying under certain cases and proposes possible mitigation measures.

The Concentration of Benzo[a]pyrene in Food Cooked by Air Fryer and Oven: A Comparison Study

“…Therefore, the present study used the BaP concentration, the representative carcinogenetic PAHs, in beef to evaluate the quality of the air fryer and the oven. Additionally, the airborne PM 10 produced during the cooking of chicken was higher in the air fryer compared to the pan [ 53 ]. However, emissions of BaP gas during the cooking process were not detected in the present study.…”

Singlet oxygen is produced from brown carbon-containing cooking organic aerosols (BrCOA) under indoor lighting

“…For instance, a domestic air fryer produced up to 5 times more PM 10 than pan cooking, which can lead to more BrCOA. 63 Overall, presence of in indoor environments opens questions about the fate, transformations and lifetime of in the built environment.…”