Source characterization and risk assessment of occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a barbecue restaurant

Food cooking is a significant source of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can pose serious adverse health effects. The use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), charcoal and wood as the cooking fuels for grilled or fried products can be a major source of the emitted pollutants inside industrial and commercial restaurants. This paper attempts to determine the inhalation exposure of VOCs generated by the food cooking process of barbecued and fried products in the kitchen area of a commercial barbecue restaurant. A broad range of VOCs was sampled and analyzed in a commercial barbecue restaurants' kitchen atmosphere for 30 days to investigate the exposure levels of the employee. The median concentration of carcinogenic VOCs were 6.11 μg/m3 for benzene, 3.51 μg/m3 for chloroform, 1.58 μg/m3 for styrene, 1.12 μg/m3 for ethylbenzene, 0.11 μg/m3 for tetrachloromethane and 0.06 μg/m3 for 1,2-dichloroethane. Sources of the quantified VOCs were mainly attributed to cooking styles and fuels, cleaning products and building materials. The carcinogenic potential of the indoor VOC exposure was between 3.4✕10−8 and 1.1✕10−5 that indicating a possible risk of lung cancer. •Indoor concentrations of 60 VOCs were analyzed in a barbecue restaurant.•Sources of the VOCs were attributed to cooking fuels and styles investigated by PCA.•An ILCR of 1.4✕10−5 was estimated for inhalation exposure to carcinogenic VOCs.