Study of indoor air quality level in various restaurants in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Good indoor air quality in restaurants is essential for ensuring healthy and comfortable workplace environment and protecting the health of restaurant personnel and visiting customers from exposure to harmful air pollutants. This study was aiming to assess the indoor levels of air pollution at different types of restaurants in Saudi Arabia. Forty‐four restaurants were selected in two main cities including hotels, family, and take away restaurants. At three locations inside each restaurant, levels of six air pollutants were measured three times during February to December 2015. The highest mean level ± standard deviation of PM10 (78.2 ± 40.2 µg m−3), PM2.5 (38.1 ± 17.6 µg m−3), CO (4.4 ± 2.2 ppm), CO2 (1218 ± 477 ppm), VOCs (0.4 ± 0.19 ppm), NO2 (0.3 ± 0.12 ppm), and SO2 (0.07 ± 0.01 ppm) were found in the fast‐food restaurants, followed by the family restaurants, while the lowest levels were recorded in hotel kitchens and its eating halls. The high levels of CO2 that exceeded its standard limit in both fast‐food and family restaurants reflect the inadequate ventilation rate inside such type of restaurants, which is considered one of the main causes of increasing indoor air pollution levels in their environment. Levels of PM10 and PM2.5 were exceeding their air quality guidelines (AQGs) inside the fast‐food and family restaurants while the other air pollutants were lower than their AQGs, which might be sufficiently high to cause chronic health effects of restaurant kitchen workers. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1713–1721, 2018