Home / Environment / Cooking Fumes Out-Pollute Cars in London, Beijing
Cooking Fumes Out-Pollute Cars in London, Beijing
4 Nov
Summary
- Cooking fumes surpass vehicle exhaust in London and Beijing during mealtimes.
- Traffic controls have improved air quality, shifting focus to kitchen emissions.
- Many pollution inventories currently omit cooking fumes as a major source.
Recent research indicates that cooking fumes are a substantial contributor to fine particle pollution in urban centers like London and Beijing, frequently surpassing vehicle exhaust during peak meal hours. In London, cooking accounted for up to 87% of particle emissions in the early evening, while Beijing saw figures as high as 76%.
This shift in pollution sources is partly due to successful traffic control measures, including stricter vehicle standards and low-emission zones in Europe. As a result, emissions from commercial kitchens are emerging as a significant, yet poorly regulated, component of the urban air pollution mix.
However, this form of pollution is often underestimated or omitted from official inventories. The study found that while traffic dominates pollution in Old Delhi, cooking emissions per area in Delhi also exceeded those in central London during winter. Better filtration of kitchen fumes is suggested as a relatively swift method to enhance air quality.
The research, published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, used instruments placed on towers to measure emissions above city streets. While local emissions are important, a significant portion of airborne particles can also form from gases originating from wider regions. Therefore, solely reducing local emissions may not be enough to meet air quality guidelines.
