Risk assessment of personal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aldehydes in three commercial cooking workplaces

Ming-Tsang Wu,Pei-Chen Lin,Chih-Hong Pan,Chiung-Yu Peng

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-38082-5

Abstract

Cooking-related emissions are associated with environmental pollution and adverse health effects. Of the various chemical species emitted during cooking, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aldehydes are two chemical species with carcinogenic or tumor promoting characteristics. Although PAH exposure has been studied in commercial kitchen workers, few studies have investigated simultaneous exposure to PAHs and aldehydes in these workers. The aims of this study were to compare personal concentrations of PAH and aldehyde in three commercial cooking workplaces and to estimate their corresponding cancer risks. The three cooking workplaces included western fast food restaurant kitchens, Chinese cafeteria kitchens, and street food carts. Comparisons showed that workers in western fast food restaurant kitchens and Chinese cafeteria kitchens tended to have lower personal concentrations of these pollutants compared to workers in street food carts. The geometric mean (95% CI) cancer risks in the three workplaces were, from lowest to highest, 1.36 (1.12–1.67) × 10−5 for western fast food restaurant kitchens, 1.52 (1.01–2.28) × 10−5 for Chinese cafeteria kitchens, and 3.14 (2.45–4.01) × 10−5 for street food carts. The percentage contributions of aldehyde species to cancer risk were very high (74.9–99.7%). Street food cart workers had high personal exposure to aldehyde probably due to lack of effective exhaust systems. Thus, their cancer risk was significantly higher than those of workers in western fast food restaurant kitchens (p < 0.001) and Chinese cafeteria kitchens (p = 0.013).

Highlights

Cooking-related emissions are a public health concern for several reasons
The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have attracted the interest of researchers because they are generated at the high temperatures used for cooking[7] and because of their well-recognized carcinogenicity[8]
Notable findings in the literature on PAH include the following: PAH levels increase with cooking temperature[14], the cooking method that generates the most PAHs is barbecue cooking[10], and particulate PAHs are a larger contributor to benzo(a)pyrene equivalent (BaPeq) concentrations compared to gaseous PAHs9

Summary

Introduction

Cooking-related emissions are a public health concern for several reasons. First, cooking activities produce harmful pollutants[1,2,3] such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aldehydes, volatile organic compounds, ultrafine particles (particles smaller than 100 nm in diameter), and PM2.5 (particulate matters smaller than 2.5 μm in diameter). The International Agency of Research on Cancer has categorized emissions from high-temperature frying as a probable carcinogen (Group 2A)[6]. The PAHs have attracted the interest of researchers because they are generated at the high temperatures used for cooking[7] and because of their well-recognized carcinogenicity[8]. Aldehyde emissions are associated with cooking temperature[15,16] and with the fatty acid composition of oil used for cooking[17,18]. Professional cooks have high potential risk of exposure to cooking-related emissions such as PAHs and aldehydes[2]. Few studies have investigated simultaneous occupational exposure to these two species. The objective of this study was to investigate occupational exposure to PAHs and aldehydes and their corresponding cancer risks

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion