The Nervous Impact of Short Term Exposure to Cooking Ultrafine Particles

Motahareh Naseri, MEHDI AMOUEI TORKMAHALLEH, Seyedeh Mohadeseh Kazemitabar, Seyedeh Ayeh Esmaili Talesh, Sahar Sadeghi, Milad Malekipirbazari, Mojtaba Jouzizadeh, Reza Khanbabaie, Dhawal Shah, Flemming Cassee, Byron Crape, Giorgio Buonanno, Luca Stabile, University of Illinois at Chicago

     Abstract Number: 258
     Working Group: Health-Related Aerosols

Abstract
Studies confirmed that cooking is a major source of indoor particles that could affect people's health. The particle sizes emitted from cooking are generally within the ultrafine particle (UFP) range. The impact of cooking particles on the human brain is poorly investigated. This study summarized a clinical study investigating the effect of cooking ultrafine particles on the human brain. Thirty healthy volunteers above 25 years old have participated on two consecutive days. The first day was a control experiment (without cooking), and the second day was an exposure experiment (with cooking). The experiments were conducted in an apartment equipped with a gas stove. Frying chicken and French fries were conducted for 20 minutes at 9:30 am on the second day (cooking day). Brain activity was measured using an Electroencephalograph (QEEG) in ten steps each day. As a background, the first measurement was at 9:00 am and continued after cooking, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, and 10 hours after cooking. The last EEG measurement was conducted at 9:00 am on the third day of experiments (23 hours after cooking). Our preliminary results showed that the greatest changes in the brain were 60-90 minutes after cooking. Alpha, Beta, and theta band decreased 90 minutes after cooking, but the delta band increased.