Cooking smoke and respiratory symptoms of restaurant workers in Thailand

Abstract

BackgroundRestaurant workers are at risk from exposure to toxic compounds from burning of fuel and fumes from cooking. However, the literature is almost silent on the issue. What discussion that can be found in the literature focuses on the potential effects from biomass smoke exposure in the home kitchen, and does not address the problem as occurring in the workplace, particularly in restaurants.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional survey of 224 worker from 142 food restaurants in the Tha Pho sub-district of Phitsanulok, a province in Thailand. The standard questionnaire from the British Medical Research Council was used to collect data on chronic respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, dyspnea, severe dyspnea, stuffy nose in the participating workers. Data on their health symptoms experienced in the past 30 days was also asked. A constructed questionnaire was used to collect exposure data, including type of job, time in the kitchen, the frequency of frying food, tears while cooking (TWC), the type of restaurant, fuel used for cooking, the size and location of the kitchen, and the exhaust system and ventilation. The prevalence of the symptoms was compared with those obtained from 395 controls, who were neighbors of the participants who do not work in a restaurant.ResultsIn comparison to the control group, the restaurant workers had twice or more the prevalence on most of the chronic health symptoms. Men had a higher risk for “dyspnea”, “stuffy nose” and “wheeze” while women had higher risk of “cough”. A Rate Ratio (RR) of susceptibility was established, which ranged from 1.4 up to 9.9. The minimum RR was for women with “severe dyspnea” (RR of 1.4, 95%CI 0.8, 2.5) while the men showed the maximum RR of 9.9 (95%CI 4.5–22.0) for “wheeze”. Possible risk factors identified were job description, job period, size of restaurant, kitchen location, type of cooking oil, hours of stay in the kitchen area, number of fry dishes prepared, frequency of occurrence of TWC, and additional cooking at home. Working for 6–10 year increased the risk of “cough” with an Odd Ratio (OR) of 3.19 (P < 0.01) while working for more than 10 years increased the risk of “cough” (OR = 3.27, P < 0.01), “phlegm” (OR = 3.87, P = 0.01) and “wheeze” (OR = 2.38, P = 0.05). Working as a chef had a higher risk of “cough” by 2.33 (P = 0.01) as comparing to other jobs. Workers in a relatively large restaurant using 4 or more stoves had increased risk of “wheeze” with OR of 3.81 (P < 0.01) and “stuffy nose” with OR of 3.56 (P < 0.01). Using vegetable oil increased the risk of “stuffy nose” by 2.94 (P < 0.01). Every 10 h of stay in the kitchen area was associated with a minimal increase in the risk of “cough”, “wheeze” and “symptoms in the past 30 days” by 1.15 (P = 0.02), 1.16 (P = 0.01) and 1.16 (P = 0.02), respectively.ConclusionsRestaurant workers are at risk of respiratory symptoms caused by exposure to toxic compounds from cooking fumes. Job description, job period, size of restaurant, kitchen location, type of cooking oil, hours of stay in the kit...

Chemical Characteristic and Inhalational Carcinogenic Risk of PM_2.5 Exposure During Indoor Cooking in Northeastern China

“…And it was faster to return to the initial concentration with the closed kitchen door whether in the living room or in the kitchen. This implied that the convection was formed between the kitchen and the living room when the kitchen door was opened, which significantly drived by the efficiency of the fresh air system or/and the hood [34]. In combination with the previous section, we obtain the priority of recovery speed for returning to the initial concentration: the living room with closing door> the kitchen with closing door> the kitchen with opening door> the living room with opening door.…”

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

“…These results indicate that workers who are working in the food cooking processes (cooks) inside the restaurant kitchens are more exposed to high levels of air pollutants than the other workers inside the kitchen itself or outside it or the visiting customers. Although the other kitchen processes otherwise the cooking process (e.g., preparation of food raw material, appetizer, salads, and dish washing) are far from the direct cooking appliances, the workers involved in these operations are also affected by the overall environment of the kitchen depending on the size of the restaurant kitchen . In addition, the presence of indoor pollutants, even at low levels, may have an adverse health effects because of long periods of exposure to these pollutants.…”

“…Most of these pollutants can increase the health risk of the exposed persons . A variety of mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds have been found in high levels after analysis of the cooking fumes .…”

“…Restaurant workers, primarily the cooks and kitchen workers who spend a long time in kitchens, are more prone to indoor air pollutants generated from cooking practices and consequently, more at risk of potential health problems . A few recent studies have reported a strong association between cooking smoke/fumes and health threats among the restaurant kitchen workers such as chest congestion, wheezing, severe dyspnea, asthma, lung cancer, and other respiratory and cardiovascular problems . Svedahl et al reported different deleterious effects from short‐term exposure to cooking fumes on the respiratory system of cooks in both domestic and professional kitchens.…”

“…The deteriorated air quality in areas surrounding the restaurants is an additional challenge, as the exhaust chimneys of restaurants' kitchens typically are not equipped with any pollution control devices such as scrubbers, catalysts, or condensers. So, it is very useful to assess the correlation between indoor and outdoor air pollution around the restaurants to estimate the pollution sources in the area .…”