Measurement of emissions of fine particulate organic matter from Chinese cooking

Cooking emissions may contribute significantly to atmospheric organic particles in urban environment in China, and thus need to be examined first for its chemical compositions and characteristics. The particulate organic emissions of the two cooking styles of Chinese cuisine, that is, Hunan Cooking and Cantonese Cooking, were characterized in Shenzhen. More than half of the PM2.5 mass is due to organic compounds, and over 90 species of organic compounds were identified and quantified, accounting for 26.1% of bulk organic particle mass and 20.7% Of PM2.5. Fatty acids, diacids and steroids were the major organic compounds emitted from both styles of cooking. Of the quantified organic mass, over 90% was fatty acids. The mass of organic species, and the molecular distribution of n-alkanes and PAHs indicated the dissimilarities between the two different cooking styles, but generally the major parts of the organic particulate emissions of the two restaurants were similar, showing less difference than between Chinese and American cooking. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.