Is the air in your kitchen safe? Kitchen ranges are a source of harmful indoor air pollution, including gases and ultrafine particles. There is fresh evidence that kitchen ranges and stovetop cooking can be hazardous to your health. Nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide Cooking on a stovetop – especially a gas range – can produce high levels of nitrogen dioxide, a gas byproduct of combustion at high temperatures. Nitrogen dioxide can reduce lung function and increases the risk of other respiratory conditions such as asthma. Other gases produced by the cooking process include formaldehyde and carbon monoxide. A new study conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that 60% of homes in California that cook with gas at least once a week reach indoor pollution levels that would violate federal outdoor air quality standards. That would include 12 million Californians exposed to unsafe levels of nitrogen dioxide, 10 million exposed to excessive formaldehyde and 1.7 million exposed to excessive carbon monoxide. Ultrafine particles and cooking Another danger of indoor cooking is the generation of ultrafine particles. Both gas and electric burners produce high levels of ultrafine particles, according to Berkeley Lab. Electric burners, in particular, create ultrafine particles through a process called “volatilization,” or vaporization. The process is similar to that used in toasters and electric heaters. “After you turn it on (if you haven’t used it for awhile), you can smell it – it smells terrible,” said one of the researchers in the report. “You’re smelling the chemicals that have been volatilized.” Air purifiers, range hoods that exhaust can help A high-performance air purifier can make a difference in controlling kitchen air pollution, but to be effective the air purifier must be able to filter particles (especially ultrafine particles) as well as gases such as nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde. Meanwhile, the Berkeley Lab research team is recommending the use of kitchen range hoods that exhaust to the outside. Even modest improvements in levels of indoor pollutants would help significantly, they say. The Berkeley Lab team is developing test methods for a rating system to measure the effectiveness of range hoods. They also hope to see eventual progress in the development of quieter range hoods that turn on and off automatically depending on the level of pollutants in the kitchen. This online publication is brought to you by IQAir North America, Inc., a member of the Swiss-based IQAir Group that develops, manufactures and markets innovative air purifiers and air quality products for indoor environments around the globe. IQAir is the exclusive educational partner of the American Lung Association for the air purifier industry.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 21:21:00 +0000
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