This study showed that cigarette combustion will produce high concentration of ROS, and this high concentration of ROS in mainstream cigarette smoke probably is one major factor contributing to a high incidence of lung cancer in smokers. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or second-hand smoke is a major indoor air pollutant that could potentially harm non-smokers. We will try to determine the ROS in ETS in the future.

Food detergents are commonly used in households. The main components of detergents include surfactants and water. It has been found that certain compounds, which may cause health concerns, appear in food detergents, such as alkylphenols, arsenic, and lead. After applying food detergents is when people may be exposed to various levels of these chemicals when there are residues. In this study, the Taguchi experimental design was performed to determine the possible factors that might affect the residual characteristics of food detergent on dishware, fruits, and vegetables. The results showed that the variety of detergent was found to be the most significant factor affecting the residue amounts of arsenic (62.9%) and lead (71.6%) on fruits and vegetables, whereas the concentration of detergent used affected the amount of lead residue only (10.5%). On the other hand, dishware material, the concentration of analytes, immersion time, and type of surfactant contributed to arsenic residues on dishware, whereas technical nonylphenol isomer residues on dishware increased as the concentration of spiked analyte increased. In addition, the occurrence of 1,4-dioxane, a possible human carcinogen, in household food detergents in Taiwan was also determined in this research by solid-phase microextraction and GC-MS. Among the 80 detergent samples, 71 contained different concentrations ranges of 1,4-dioxane, from 0.03 to ~3.73 µg/g. In the exposure assessment, it was estimated that the maximum amounts of 1,4-dioxane in contact with the skin from the use of household food detergent in Taiwan was 0.015 µg/kg/day.

BACKGROUND Peanut allergy is recognized as a major food allergy that triggers severe and even fatal symptoms. Avoidance of peanuts in the diet is the main option for current safety management. Processing techniques reducing peanut allergenicity are required to develop other options. Cold plasma is currently considered as a novel non‐thermal approach to alter protein structure and has the potential to alleviate immunoreactivity of protein allergen. RESULTS The application of a cold argon plasma jet to peanut protein extract could reduce the amount of a 64 kDa protein band corresponding to a major peanut allergen Ara h 1 using sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but the overall protein size distribution did not change significantly. A decrease in peanut protein solubility was a possible cause that led to the loss of protein content in the soluble fraction. Immunoblotting and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay elucidated that the immunoreactivity of Ara h 1 was significantly decreased with the time treated with plasma. Ara h 1 antigenicity reduced by 38% after five scans (approximately 3 min) of cold argon plasma jet treatment, and the reduction was up to 66% after approximately 15 min of treatment. CONCLUSION The results indicate that cold argon plasma jet treatment could be a suitable platform for alleviating the immunoreactivity of peanut protein. This work demonstrates an efficient, compact, and rapid platform for mitigating the allergenicity of peanuts, and shows great potential for the plasma platform as a non‐thermal technique in the food industry. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.