I was struck in Chapter 8 when I read that there was an increased incidence of pulmonary adenocarcinoma (lung cancer) in Chinese women due to prolonged exposure to cooking-oil fumes. There have been numerous documented stories and research which has affirmed the presence and contribution of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's) to this phenomenon. This really hit home for me not only because of my love on chinese food and general concern for those who prepare it, but also my love of cooking. Have I been over exposing myself to high levels of PAH's in cooking oils and products all in search of that one delightful recipe? According to published work, the answer is yes. Although the names of the brands of synthetic oil were not revealed in these studies, the respirable cooking oil particulate is quite dangerous and prevalent. Ways to prevent high exposure are to take such cautionary measures such as working in well ventalated areas and to always cook with the blowfan on. Also whenever possbi;e try to avoid high oil temperatures because this serves to increase the amount of oil PM. For more, read this; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8161241&dopt=Abstract.
2 comments:
In response to Alex's post, I found it interesting the amount of PAHs emitted when cooking. I never knew that there was a health risk associated with cooking with oil. With the health risk of cooking, maybe oil manufactures should be required to put a warning label on the bottle of the potential health risk and the chemicals that are released when it is heated at high temperatures. I looked up indoor pollutants on the EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html) to see what the regulations are of PAHs and other indoor pollutants. The interesting thing is that I did not find PAHs listed as an indoor pollutant or anything related to cooking besides a stove as a health risk. I feel that more research needs to be done to look into the potential health risks of cooking oils and possible solutions or ways to reduce the risks need to be made available to the public.
The EPA has tended to focus on gas-phase pollutants and total particulate quantities because they are easier to quantify. For example, when you turn on a gas stove, carbon monoxide levels in the room go up, and it sounds like particulate levels go up when you start to fry food. But it is what is in the particulates that is often the biggest health issue.
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