Siao Wei See

Health risk assessment of occupational exposure to particulate-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with Chinese, Malay and Indian cooking

Food cooking using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has received considerable attention in recent years since it is an important source of particulate air pollution in indoor environments for non-smokers. Exposure to organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contained in particles is of particular health concern since some of these compounds are suspected carcinogens. It is therefore necessary to chemically characterize the airborne particles emitted from gas cooking to assess their possible health impacts. In this work, the levels of fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and 16 priority PAHs were determined in three different ethnic commercial kitchens, specifically Chinese, Malay and Indian food stalls, where distinctive cooking methods were employed. The mass concentrations of PM(2.5) and PAHs, and the fraction of PAHs in PM(2.5) were the highest at the Malay stall (245.3 microg m(-3), 609.0 ng m(-3), and 0.25%, respectively), followed by the Chinese stall (201.6 microg m(-3), 141.0 ng m(-3), and 0.07%), and the Indian stall (186.9 microg m(-3), 37.9 ng m(-3), and 0.02%). This difference in the levels of particulate pollution among the three stalls may be attributed to the different cooking methods employed at the food stalls, the amount of food cooked, and the cooking time, although the most sensitive parameter appears to be the predominant cooking method used. Frying processes, especially deep-frying, produce more air pollutants, possibly due to the high oil temperatures used in such operations. Furthermore, it is found that frying, be it deep-frying at the Malay stall or stir-frying at the Chinese stall, gave rise to an abundance of higher molecular weight PAHs such as benzo[b]fluoranthene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and benzo[g,h,i]perylene whereas low-temperature cooking, such as simmering at the Indian stall, has a higher concentration of lower molecular weight PAHs. In addition, the correlation matrices and diagnostic ratios of PAHs were calculated to determine the markers of gas cooking. To evaluate the potential health threat due to inhalation exposure from the indoor particulate pollution, excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) was also calculated for an exposed individual. The findings suggest that cooking fumes in the three commercial kitchens pose adverse health effects.

Optimization and validation of a low temperature microwave-assisted extraction method for analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in airborne particulate matter

A low temperature microwave-assisted extraction method (MAE) is reported for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in airborne particulate matter (PM). The main parameters affecting the extraction efficiency (choice of extractants, microwave power, and extraction time) were investigated and optimized. The optimized procedure requires a 20 ml mixture of acetone:n-hexane (1:1) for extraction of PAHs in PM at 150W of microwave energy (20 min extraction time). Clean-up of MAE extracts was not found to be necessary. The optimized method was validated using two different SRM (1648-urban particulate matter and 1649a, urban dust). The results obtained are in good agreement with certified values. PAHs recoveries for both reference materials were between 79 and 122% with relative standard deviation ranging from 3 to 21%. Detection limits were determined based on blank determination using two kinds of quartz filter substrates (n=10), which ranged from 0.001 (0.03) ng m(-3)(pg/microg) for B(k)Ft to 1.119 (37.3) for Naph in ng m(-3) (pg/microg), respectively. The repeatability and day-to-day reproducibility obtained in this study were in the range of 4-16 and 3-25% for spiked standards and SRM 1649, respectively. The optimized and validated MAE technique was applied to the extraction of PAHs from a set of real world PM samples collected in Singapore. The sum of particulate-bound PAHs in outdoor PM ranged from 1.05 to 3.45 ng m(-3) while that in indoor PM (cooking emissions) ranged from 27.6 to 75.7 ng m(-3), respectively.

Physical characteristics of nanoparticles emitted from incense smoke

abstract Incense is habitually burned in various religious settings ranging from the Eastern temples to the Western churches and in residential homes of their devotees, representing one of the most significant sources of combustion-derived particulate matter in indoor air. Incense smoke has been known to be associated with adverse health effects, which could be due to the release of the submicron-sized particles, including ultrafine and nanoparticles. However, there is currently a lack of information available in the literature on the emission rates of particles from incense smoke in terms of their particle number, a metric generally regarded as a better indicator of health risks rather than the particle mass. In this study, real-time characterization of the size distribution and number concentration of sub-micrometer-sized particles (5.6–560 nm) emitted from incense smoke was made, for the first time, for four different brands of sandalwood and aloeswood incense sticks commonly used by different religious groups. In addition, the respective emission rates were determined on hourly and mass basis based on mass balance equations. The measurements showed that the particle emission rates ranged from 5.10 × 1012 to 1.42 × 1013 h–1 or 3.66 × 1012 to 1.23 × 1013 g–1 and that the peak diameters varied from 93.1 to 143.3 nm. Airborne particles in the nanometer range (5.6–50 nm), in the ultrafine range (50–100 nm) and in the accumulation mode range (100–560 nm) accounted for 1% to 6%, 16% to 55% and 40% to 60% of the total particle counts, respectively, depending on the brand of incense sticks. To assess the potential health threat due to inhalation of particles released from incense burning, the number of particles of different sizes that can be possibly deposited in the respiratory tract were evaluated for an exposed individual based on known deposition fractions in the literature. The findings indicate that incense smoke may pose adverse health effects depending on exposure duration and intensity.

Simultaneous Determination of Inorganic Anions and Selected Organic Acids in Airborne Particulate Matter by Ion Chromatography

Abstract This paper reports a simple, selective, and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of inorganic anions (fluoride, chloride, nitrite, nitrate, sulfate, phosphate and methanesulfonate) and organic anions (formate, acetate, pyruvate, glutarate, succinate, malonte, and oxalate) in particulate matter (PM) by ion chromatography. The separation of 14 anions can be accomplished in 26 minutes with the procedure being validated by standard reference materials and a standard addition method. The method was then applied to PM sampled in Singapore during the infamous 1997–98 haze episode. The results showed considerably high concentrations of particulate‐bound sulfate, formate, acetate, and oxalate in biomass‐impacted air masses.

Assessing exposure to diesel exhaust particles: a case study.

The assessment of the vehicular contributions to urban pollution levels is of particular importance given the current interest in the possible adverse health effects. This study focused on human exposure to diesel-engine-derived particulate matter. Diesel vehicles are known to emit fine particulate matter (PM2.5) containing carcinogens such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and have therefore received considerable attention. In this study, the physical (mass and number concentration, and size distribution) and chemical (PAHs) properties were investigated at a major bus interchange in Singapore, influenced only by diesel exhausts. Number concentration and size distribution of particles were determined in real time, while the mass concentrations of PM2.5, and PAHs were measured during operating and nonoperating hours. The average mass concentrations of PM2.5 and PAHs increased by a factor of 2.34 and 5.18, respectively, during operating hours. The average number concentration was also elevated by a factor of 5.07 during operating hours. This increase in the concentration of PM2.5 particles and their chemical constituents during operating hours was attributable to diesel emissions from in-use buses based on the particle size analysis, correlation among PAHs, and the commonly used PAHs diagnostic ratios. To evaluate the potential health threat due inhalation of air pollutants released from diesel engines, the incremental lifetime cancer risk was also calculated for a maximally exposed individual. The findings indicate that the air quality at the bus interchange poses adverse health effects.