Emission characteristics of particulate matter, odors, and volatile organic compounds from the grilling of pork

Abstract

Meat-grilling restaurants are considered to be residential emission sources of air pollutants. To investigate the emission characteristics of particulate matter (PM), odors, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the grilling of meat, a grilling apparatus equipped with butane gas burners was used to grill pork belly and marinated pork ribs in a laboratory setting. When grilling the pork belly, the emission factor for PM with a diameter of 2.5 μm or below (PM_2.5) was 754 mg-PM·kg-meat^-1, accounting for 99% of total suspended particles (TSPs), while that of the marinated pork ribs was 137 mg-PM·kg-meat^-1 (96% of TSPs). Ammonia and acetaldehyde were the most common odors emitted during grilling at 43-88 mg·kg-meat^-1 and 22-30 mg·kg-meat^-1, respectively. Aldehydes were the most significant contributor to total odor intensity (36%-67%). Benzene, vinyl acetate, and hexene were the most abundant VOCs for the pork belly, while butane, vinyl acetate, and n-dodecane were the most abundant for the marinated ribs. Among the VOCs emitted from the pork grilling process, hexene, butane, and toluene were the dominant ozone precursors. The information obtained in this study is useful for furthering the understanding of the characteristics of air pollutants emitted from actual meat-grilling restaurants. Additionally, knowledge of the PM, odor, and VOC emission characteristics and their emission factors is useful for establishing management strategies for air pollutants from meat-grilling restaurants.

Keywords: Odors; Ozone precursors; Particulate matter; Pork grilling; Volatile organic compounds.