Catering Oil Fume Pollution: VOCs/PAHs Emission Rules and Health Risk Early-Warning Assessment

This study systematically characterized volatile organic compound (VOC) compositions across cuisines in China, examined how edible oils affect VOC/polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions, and evaluated associated health risks using both deterministic and Monte Carlo probabilistic models, from which a tiered health-risk early-warning classification was derived. Results showed distinct cuisine-specific VOC profiles: high-temperature frying cuisines [barbecue (BB) and western fast food (KFC)] were dominated by alkanes, whereas cooking-wine cuisines [Hunan cuisine (XC) and western cuisine (WC)] had high alcohols (13.2%–29.2% ethanol); Sichuan cuisine (CC) showed high VOC compositional similarity with the other cuisines ( similarity > 0.6 ). Rapeseed oil emitted the most particulate matter, soybean oil emitted the most nonmethane hydrocarbons, and both produced the highest PAHs, notably anthracene ( 276.88 μg m − 3 ) and benzo[a]pyrene. Noncarcinogenic risk arose mainly from acrolein, and the lifetime carcinogenic risk (LCR) exceeded 1.0 × 10 − 6 for all cuisines. VOCs contributed 86.3%–94.1% of total cancer risk and PAHs 5.9%–13.7%, the latter dominated by benzo[a]pyrene. Applying the proposed five-level early-warning scheme, high-oil, high-temperature methods (barbecue and Sichuan cuisine) reached the highest warning levels, and occupational workers were consistently classified one to two levels above nearby residents. The results highlight the need for targeted control of key pollutants (e.g., acrolein and 1,3-butadiene, benzo[a]pyrene) and for occupational protection in catering kitchens.