Cooking Oil Fume
This research scrutinizes the peril that indoor airborne fine particles pose to human health, particularly those tinier than 2.5 micrometers primarily produced during cooking processes. Astonishingly, a whopping 65% of these fine particles stem from cooking, carrying carcinogens like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs), notorious for their presence in food-related cancer cases. Hence, discerning the characteristics and organic content of these fine particles is crucial to understanding the inflammation they may cause upon inhalation.
Previous studies have looked at the impact of smoke from cooking oils at their smoke points on human cells, yet they haven't thoroughly considered various cooking temperatures. Moreover, while past research has assessed the toxicity of individual components of cooking oil fumes (COFs), particularly gaseous substances such as aldehydes, the specific effects of carcinogenic and genotoxic organic substances like PAHs and HCAs on the lungs have been only partly explained. Our preceding research demonstrated severe inflammation and damage in the lungs of mice exposed to carbon nanoparticles coated with the potent carcinogen Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a significant component of outdoor dust.
Our findings reveal that exposure to COFs lowers cell viability and boosts the formation of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS) over time. Intriguingly, COFs generated at high temperatures over the flaming temperature, which contain PhIP, significantly spurred the production of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6. This suggests that the presence of PhIP in COFs, especially at temperatures surpassing typical smoke points, triggers a heightened inflammatory response in human lung cells.
With these insights, we demonstrate that cooking temperature is a pivotal factor in the toxicity of COFs to lung cells. Our research lays the groundwork for strategies to prevent diseases caused by cooking fumes and offers guidance for minimizing the creation of noxious substances during cooking. Additionally, our work serves as a critical benchmark for gauging the health repercussions of indoor fine particles.