Evaluation of cooking emitted particulate matter concentration and workers cancer risk assessment in the sari fast-food shops

Introduction: One of the harmful pollutants in the indoor environments is particulate matters. Particles smaller than 2.5 micrometer in diameter that are suspend in the industrial environments air are the most deleterious dusts which can cause lung disease and cancer. In present study PM2.5 concentration in the fast-food shops air and its cancer risk for shop workers were assessed.   Material and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, all of Sari city 132 fast foods were included. Air sampling was conducted by calibrated real-time GRIMM-monitor device. Data were analyzed by using of SPSS16 and Prism6 software with T-test, Pearson correlation and descriptive statistics. Finally PM2.5 cancer risk in workers was calculated by EPA method equation. Results: The PM2.5 concentration in shops indoor air (308.5µg/m3) significantly was higher than its concentration in outdoor air (121.98µg/m3) (p<0.05). Highest correlation was observed between indoor PM2.5 concentration with smoking (0.366) and local ventilation (-0.384) (p<0.01). The concentration PM2.5 in the indoor and the outdoor of shops was 273.55 and 86.98µg/m3 higher than acceptable level respectively. Cancer risk was 5.6 per 100 thousands and 1.97 per 10 thousands in the rest and cooking time respectively. Conclusion: The most affective source in the elevation of PM2.5 level in shops indoor air is the cook-emitted particles. PM2.5 concentration in shops indoor and outdoor air was much higher than EPA admissible level and cancer risk for workers was unacceptable that it has required to basic solutions for air pollution control at source.