Human exposure to aerosol from indoor gas stove cooking and the resulting nervous system responses

Abstract

Our knowledge of the effects of exposure to indoor ultrafine particles (sub‐100 nm, #/cm3) on human brain activity is very limited. The effects of cooking ultrafine particles (UFP) on healthy adults were assessed using an electroencephalograph (EEGs) for brain response. Peak ultrafine particle concentrations were approximately 3 × 105 particle/cm3, and the average level was 1.64 × 105 particle/cm3. The average particle number emission rate (S) and the average number decay rate (a+k) for chicken frying in brain experiments were calculated to be 2.82 × 1012 (SD = 1.83 × 1012, R2 = 0.91, p = 0.0013) particles/min, 0.47 (SD = 0.30, R2 = 0.90, p < 0.0001) min−1, respectively. EEGs were recorded before and during cooking (14 min) and 30 min after the cooking sessions. The brain fast‐wave band (beta) decreased during exposure, similar to people with neurodegenerative diseases. It subsequently increased to its pre‐exposure condition for 70% of the study participants after 30 min. The brain slow‐wave band to fast‐wave band ratio (theta/beta ratio) increased during and after exposure, similar to observed behavior in early‐stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. The brain then tended to return to its normal condition within 30 min following the exposure. This study suggests that chronically exposed people to high concentrations of cooking aerosol might progress toward AD.

A review of critical residential buildings parameters and activities when investigating indoor air quality and pollutants

“…With respect to particle total number emission rates, the oils were ranked as olive > coconut > corn > soybean, canola > safflower > peanut. Olive, coconut, corn, and peanut oils generated higher total particle number than safflower, soybean, and canola oils at 197°C 152,155,156 …”

“…Olive, coconut, corn, and peanut oils generated higher total particle number than safflower, soybean, and canola oils at 197°C. 152,155,156 Evidence from many studies has shown that cooking on a gas stove produces in general a higher level of UFPs, PM, and NOx than electric-stove cooking. 131,151,156,157 Cooking appliance type is another factor in aerosol formation during the cooking process.…”

“…Acute health effects from cooking aerosols have been studied in the literature but with a significant gap on nervous health effects. Only two studies have addressed the impact of cooking aerosols on the human brain during gas stove and electric‐stove cooking 155,194 …”

Alternations in neural oscillation related to attention network reveal influence of indoor toluene on cognition at low concentration

“…With high time sensitivity, EEG can record electrical activity with synchronized task 28 . At present, the EEG method has been widely utilized to better understand cognitive activity, which proved to be a sensitive measure of assessing the impact of air pollutant on human brain 29–31 …”

“…28 At present, the EEG method has been widely utilized to better understand cognitive activity, which proved to be a sensitive measure of assessing the impact of air pollutant on human brain. [29][30][31] Attention is the precondition of advanced cognitive functions composed of three functionally and anatomically distinct subsystems known as alerting network, orienting network, and executive network (EC). 32,33 The attention network test (ANT) designed by Fan et al was used to evaluate the efficiency of three components of attention network, 34 and distinct brain oscillation pattern of the attention network has been found in previous research.…”