How to Minimize Indoor Air Pollution When Cooking at Home
Cooking a big meal can produce more indoor air pollution than health guidelines suggest is safe even when you’re outside.
The sizzle of a burger hitting a hot pan. The delicate char on roasted potatoes. The caramel parfum of a slice of toasting bread. We associate the sounds and smells of cooking with tasty, nutritious meals — but cooking is also a major source of indoor pollutants.
In 2020, Delphine Farmer, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at Colorado State University, co-authored a study that looked at the air-quality impact of cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner. The researchers prepared their meal — roasted turkey, stuffing, brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole, pies, cranberry sauce and gravy — in a three-bedroom test home kitted out with pollution-monitoring equipment. They then repeated the experiment on a separate day.