Emission of aldehydes from different cooking processes: a review study

As one of the primary contributing sources of indoor air pollution, cooking oil fumes are generated from a series of thermodynamic reactions between food ingredients. Nowadays, various compounds, especially aldehydes in fumes with adverse health effects, are detected. In the current study, the sampling and experimental methods, emission factors, and health effects related to emitted aldehydes from various cooking styles such as frying, grilling, barbequing, roasting, steaming, and boiling were reviewed. Generally, oxidation of food fatty contents is the primary source of aldehyde generation, while the frying process had the most influence due to the high unsaturated fatty acid contents related to edible oil consumption. However, other cooking techniques with high temperatures (as accelerating parameters) such as roasting and microwave can also result in more aldehydes release. Furthermore, cooking with high fatty and water content are also able to generate more aldehydes. Finally, health risk assessment results related to investigated studies at three phases of lab-scale, home, and commercial kitchens showed an exceeded limit for both the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk of aldehydes attributed to inadequate ventilation.