Composition analysis and health risk assessment of the hazardous compounds in cooking fumes emitted from heated soybean oils with different refining levels

Abstract

The cooking fumes generated from thermal cooking oils contains various of hazardous components and shows deleterious health effects. The edible oil refining is designed to improve the oil quality and safety. While, there remains unknown about the connections between the characteristics and health risks of the cooking fumes and oils with different refining levels. In this study, the hazardous compounds, including aldehydes, ketones, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and particulate matter (PM) in the fumes emitted from heated soybean oils with different refining levels were characterized, and their health risks were assessed. Results demonstrated that the concentration range of aldehydes and ketones (from 328.06 ± 24.64 to 796.52 ± 29.67 μg/m3), PAHs (from 4.39 ± 0.19 to 7.86 ± 0.51 μg/m3), and PM (from 0.36 ± 0.14 to 5.08 ± 0.15 mg/m3) varied among soybean oil with different refining levels, respectively. The neutralized oil showed the highest concentration of aldehydes and ketones, whereas the refined oil showed the lowest. The highest concentration levels of PAHs and PM were observed in fumes emitted from crude oil. A highly significant (p < 0.001) positive correlation between the acid value of cooking oil and the concentrations of PM was found, suggesting that removing free fatty acids is critical for mitigating PM concentration in cooking fumes. Additionally, the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) values of PAHs and aldehydes were 5.60 × 10−4 to 8.66 × 10−5 and 5.60 × 10−4 to 8.66 × 10−5, respectively, which were substantially higher than the acceptable levels (1.0 × 10−6) established by US EPA. The present study quantifies the impact of edible oil refining on hazardous compound emissions and provides a theoretical basis for controlling the health risks of cooking fumes via precise edible oil processing.