Exposure assessment of emissions from mobile food carts on New York City streets

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Food carts are common along streets in cities throughout the world. In North America, food cart vendors generally use propane, charcoal, or both propane and charcoal (P and C) for food preparation. Although cooking emissions are known to be a major source of indoor air pollution, there is limited knowledge on outdoor cooking’s impact on the ambient environment and, in particular, the relative contribution of the different cooking fuels. This field study investigated the air pollution the public is exposed to in the micro-environment around 19 food carts classified into 3 groups: propane, charcoal, and P and C carts. Concentrations near the food carts were measured using both real-time and filter-based methods. Mean real-time concentrations of PM2.5, BC2.5, and particle counts were highest near the charcoal food carts: 196 μg/m3, 5.49 μg/m3, and 69,000 particles/cm3, respectively, with peak exposures of 1520 μg/m3, 67.9 μg/m3, and 235,000 particles/cm3, respectively. In order of pollution emission impacts: charcoal > P and C > propane carts. Thus, significant differences in air pollution emissions occurred in the vicinity of mobile food carts, depending on the fuel used in food preparation. Local air pollution polices should consider these emission factors in regulating food cart vendor operations.