We’ve all heard how gas stoves may be harmful to our health, now using a frying pan to sauté or fry food may not be safe either.
A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia found that frying or sautéing foods releases chemicals into the air that may be damaging to your health. A feast cooked up by UBC scientists revealed that an oxidant is released into the air during cooking that can cause stress to our lungs, contributing to the development of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, says a university news release.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science: Atmospheres, investigated how brown carbon aerosols that are released during cooking could impact indoor air quality and health. These microscopic particles form when organic matter, like fats and oils, are incompletely combusted. This results in the capacity to absorb light, giving them a brownish hue, which is why they are called brown carbon aerosols.
According to Study Finds, the brown carbon aerosols, or BrCOA, produce singlet oxygen, a form of oxygen that damages cells and tissues in the body. The researchers trapped the BrCOA particles that were released during the frying process of several foods, put them in water and then exposed them to different kinds of light: UV, sun and fluorescent light.
They detected singlet oxygen at the same concentration in the three dishes they prepared: pancakes, Brussels sprouts and vegetable stir fry. But its highest concentration occurred in the experiments using sunlight, suggesting naturally lit kitchens would see more of this oxidant.
Singlet oxygen particles hanging around in the air of our kitchens degrade the quality of indoor air. Research has found that cooking aerosols can also impact our health by contributing to inflammation and oxidative stress.
The researchers suggested that adding adequate ventilation to kitchens and air filtration could reduce exposure during cooking.
“Our next steps include determining just how this oxidant might affect humans and how much we are breathing in as we cook,” said senior author Nadine Borduas-Dedekind, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of British Columbia. “Could it play a role in some cooking-related diseases?”
Lynn C. Allison ✉
Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.
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