Assessing health risks from cooking oil fume leaks in residential cooking exhaust shaft system

Abstract

Kitchens in multi-floor and high-rise buildings utilize shared cooking exhaust shaft systems (CESS) to exhaust cooking oil fumes (COF) outside. On each floor shaft, a backdraft damper is installed to control the COF flow. However, residents may be exposed to particulate matter pollution when COF in the shaft leaks through the dampers and infiltrates non-cooking kitchens (NC Kitchens). Previous studies rarely considered the airtightness of dampers and their impact on the health of non-cooking residents. Therefore, a multizone network model was used to simulate PM2.5 concentrations in NC Kitchens with different airtightness dampers, and the health risks to people in NC Kitchens were assessed. Measures to reduce health risks were analyzed. Results indicate that, for 33- and 18-floor CESS under high diversity, utilizing good dampers led to inhalation cancer risks exceeding 1 × 10−6, signifying potential health hazards. Conversely, the 6-floor CESS demonstrated negligible health risks. For 33- and 18-floor CESS, dampers with air leakages of 100 and 140 m3/(h·m2) at 250 Pa static pressure, respectively, are advised. Additionally, expanding the shaft dimensions from 500 mm × 400 mm to 700 mm × 700mm and 400 mm × 300mm to 400 mm × 600mm respectively, ensures health in NC Kitchens. These findings hold importance in improving damper airtightness, optimizing CESS performance, and safeguarding non-cooking residents’ health.