KitchenAirMalia Morris and Chris Park

Whitefish High SchoolMr. Spangler

● Our project was focused on testing the PM2.5 levels of the new WHS Foods Lab Kitchen while food was being cooked.

● We were interested in this project because we wanted to see if the new kitchen fans were effective as well as look at the health effects for students in cooking classes.

Introduction

● One study found from, “Environmental Health Perspectives” reported that in 2010, household cooking with solid fuels accounted for 12% of the global PM(2.5) levels that were over .035

● Another study showed that in a recent Beijing experiment, it was found that PM 2.5 levels rise sharply when cooking traditional Chinese food.

Background Information

"Chinese Cooking Big Contributor to PM 2.5 Levels." Chinese Cooking Big Contributor to PM 2.5 Levels. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2015.

"EHP – Household Cooking with Solid Fuels Contributes to Ambient PM2.5 Air Pollution and the Burden of Disease." EHP. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2015.

Our research led us to propose the following research question and hypothesis: ❏ Will indoor cooking raise PM 2.5 levels?❏ “The PM 2.5 level in the kitchen will be

higher during cooking than it will be while not cooking.”

Hypothesis and Research Question

● Controlled Variableso The location of the metero The kitchen being testedo The type of food cooked

● Independent Variableo Time

● Dependent Variableo The changing PM level in relation to

time

Materials and Methods

● Our test location was the WHS Foods Lab in Kitchen #1

● We used a DustTrack machine to test from 3:35 pm Wednesday, February 17th to 1:51 pm Friday, February 19th

Location and Time

Photos

Data Graph

● Max) .036 mg/m^3 at 10:56 a.m. on February 18th

● Min) .003 mg/m^3 at 3:41 p.m. on February 17th

● Average) .011 mg/m^3

Test Results

● Our graph revealed that the maximum PM level occurred during the one class period that was cooking ground beef in order to make Chili.

● This was the only class period during our testing time that used the stove

Analyzing the Results

● We have found that our research agrees with several other studies showing that indoor cooking increases PM 2.5 levels

● Upon further research we also found that PM 2.5 levels increase even more when cooking with solid fuels such as wood or charcoal

Discussion

EHP – Household Cooking with Solid Fuels Contributes to Ambient PM2.5 Air Pollution and the Burden of Disease." EHP. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2015.

● These results supported our hypothesis that, “The PM 2.5 level in the kitchen will be higher during cooking than it will be while not cooking.”

Back to the Hypothesis

● In order to further support our hypothesis we could test the kitchen several other times while students are cooking in order to ensure accurate results

What more can we do?

● The PM 2.5 levels in the WHS Foods Lab Kitchen spiked over the EPA limit of .035 only one time during the testing. This was when the students were cooking using the gas stove.

● We conclude that our experiment supports the idea that indoor cooking increases PM 2.5 levels

Conclusion

● With our new found information, the WHS Foods Lab students can now be more aware of PM 2.5 levels while using the stoves.

● Luckily, the spike was so slight in our test that it is unlikely to be harmful to students

Conclusion Continued

Our project could be improved by doing one or more of the following things: ❏ Test the lab more than once ❏ Test the lab and cook different foods

at different times❏ Test the lab for a more standard

amount of time

Improvements

Works Cited

"Chinese Cooking Big Contributor to PM 2.5 Levels." Chinese Cooking Big Contributor to PM 2.5 Levels. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2015.

"EHP – Household Cooking with Solid Fuels Contributes to Ambient PM2.5 Air Pollution and the Burden of Disease." EHP. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2015.

"Emissions from Street Vendor Cooking Devices." Application Error. EPA, n.d. Web. 20 May 2015.

References:

● Mr.Spangler for printing off our data and letting us use the DustTrack machine

● Ms.Palin for letting us test the WHS Foods Lab Kitchen

Acknowledgements: