Sunday roast pollution peril

Danger is worse than busy city centre

COOKING a Sunday roast can raise air pollution levels in your home above those in city centres, research suggests.

Experts found pollutant levels after cooking a roast turkey – with trimmings – were 13 times higher than those in central London.

And toasting two slices of bread caused twice as much air pollution as is seen in the city for 15 to 20 minutes – meaning three times the World Health Organisation’s safety limit.

Experts issued a public warning to families to open windows and turn on extractor fans to avoid exposure to dangerous levels of toxic airborne particles – which can trigger breathing problems and pose risks to the heart and circulation.

The findings emerged in an experiment by researchers at the University of Colorado which measured pollution levels in a 1,200sq ft home rigged up with advanced sensors. It found fats burned in cooking and fumes from gas hobs were particularly harmful, lingering for around an hour after use.

Speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington DC yesterday, study lead Marina Vance, of the University of Colorado, said the results were ‘surprising’, adding: ‘Even the simple act of making toast raised particle levels far higher than expected.’

The study, called HomeChem, looked at household PM2.5

Risk to heart and breathing

particles which are small enough to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream.

It found that during the cooking of a roast dinner, levels peaked at 200micrograms per cubic metre – compared to an average 15.2 per cubic metre in central London. There is no safe exposure to PM2.5, but the World Health Organisation recommends air is kept below ten micrograms per cubic metre.

Professor Vance warned the ‘ultra-fine particles’ found in the house are known to deposit in organs such as the heart, liver, lungs and brain, adding: ‘Similar tiny particles are produced by diesel cars and have been linked to heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.’

Professor Joost de Gouw, pollution expert at the University of Colorado, said: ‘All of us were just blown away by how high concentrations can get inside.

‘You will be exposed for an hour, it’s not a few minutes... Roasting will see you exposed for two or three hours.’