A new research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has found that the delicious smell of food cooking at restaurants, food trucks and street vendors might be negatively impacting air quality. Researchers at NOAA's Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL) released the startling findings from a multilayer study of what they call "underappreciated sources" of urban air pollution. They focused on three cities in the United States - Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Boulder in Colorado - where they measured human-caused volatile organic compounds (VOCs) related to cooking.
"If you can smell it, there's a good chance it's impacting air quality," researchers said in the study.
For the research, experts measured all sorts of different VOCs across the US from different sources like vehicles, wildfire smoke, agriculture and consumer products. "We kept seeing a specific class of compound in the urban measurements, what we call long-chain aldehydes, that we couldn't explain from these other sources," study author Matt Coggon said.
The researchers found that Las Vegas, which has one of the highest number of eateries in the United States, has persistent air quality issues. On average, 21% of the total mass of VOCs present in Vegas' outdoor air were from "cooking activities," NOAA estimated.
Also Read | People Are Breathing In Cancer-Causing Chemicals In Their Cars, Study Finds
The administration also found elevated levels of VOCs in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California. Overall, researchers concluded that air pollution from cooking is vastly underestimated and could account for nearly a quarter of VOCs in urban areas. The problem is even more acute indoors and inside homes, experts warned.
"Cooking emissions could be the single largest missing source of urban VOCs in current air quality models, which could have important ramifications for air quality management," the study said.
What this means for air quality management remains to be seen. But having the data, Mr Coggon believes, is the first step. "It's crucial to have the full picture of emissions and sources to help policymakers understand the effectiveness of their decisions," he said.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Sirsa has accused Arvind Kejriwal's AAP - in power before the BJP won the February election - of allowing more than 1.08 lakh vehicles to run on city roads despite each emitting high levels of carbon monoxide.
An integrated command and control centre has been proposed in the 2025-26 Delhi budget, presented by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday, for real-time monitoring of air quality, water pollution, noise levels, and waste management.
As part of broader strategy to tackle the expected winter pollution peak, the Delhi government will install six new air quality monitoring stations across the national capital over the next three months, Environment Minister said.
Delhi remained India's most polluted megacity by a wide margin during the 2024-25 winter, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 175 micrograms per cubic metre, according to an analysis released on Tuesday.
A small city on the Meghalaya-Assam border, nearly 2,000 kilometres away from Delhi, is the most polluted in the world, according to a report published by a global pollution watchdog.
................................ Advertisement ................................
Opinion | Why Indians Have Just Given Up On Air Pollution CrisisTanushree Ganguly
Friday December 20, 2024While some may argue that people in Delhi are now more aware of air pollution than they were a decade back, my rebuttal would be that awareness does not mean that people are concerned.
Opinion | You Must Outrage Over Filthy Air More Than Once A YearJyoti Pande Lavakare
Tuesday December 10, 2024Delhi welcomed us with monsoon rains and mangos. We were home. Fast forward a couple of years, in the winter of 2012, I found myself in denial about something other parents, mostly expats, were calling toxic air.
Opinion | Delhi's Air Pollution Situation Is Like A Bad MarriageNishtha Gautam
Friday November 22, 2024On a good day, such as today, the AQI reading in Delhi is 407. We are jubilant at the sickly sunshine trickling through the slightly dissipated smog. At least its not 1600.
दिवाली... पराली... सियासी जुगाली!Ashwini kumar
Monday November 18, 2024दिल्ली-एनसीआर में प्रदूषण का समाधान तो आज तक मिला नहीं. हर साल चिंतित होकर हम-आप सांसों की तकलीफ के साथ-साथ दिल और ब्लड प्रेशर के मरीज भी क्यों बनें?
घर में कैद बुजुर्ग और हांफते लोग, दिल्ली की सांसों में घुला ये कैसा रोग?Nidhi Kulpati
Friday November 08, 2024हमारी हवा जहरीली हो रही है. गुरुवार की शाम को जब मैं इस मुद्दे पर लिखने बैठी तो AQI लगातार 400 पार जाकर दम घोंट रहा था. बहुत लोगों को यह मामला बोरिंग लगे, लेकिन जब आप अपने साथ काम करने वालों को खांसते-हांफते देखते-सुनते हैं, तो चिंता होने लगती है. सुबह उठते ही दरवाजे खिड़कियां खोलने के लिए डॉक्टर मना कर रहे हैं. बड़े बुजुर्गों के लिए तो मॉर्निंग वॉक बाहर की दुनिया से सीधे संपर्क का ज़रिया है, लेकिन डॉक्टर इसकी भी मनाही कर रहे हैं.