Air pollution in the workplace: making shish kebab is an overlooked occupational hazard

Background: Meat grilled with wood charcoal is the most popular meal in Central Asia, but little is known about the grillers’ occupational exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) in fumes. Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative analysis of occupational exposure to fine PM in grillers in the workplace. Methods: We assessed exposure to PM2.5 from barbecue fumes using SidePak AM520 in six popular cafes in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Grillers wore devices for 8 h of work shift for 7 days in each place. Within- and between-place variances of PM2.5 mass concentrations were calculated using analysis of variance, and we also calculated the fold range of the 95% variance within (wR0.95) and between places (bR0.95), as well as exceedance (γ) and the probability of overexposure (θ). Results: Two modes of exposure were identified, including intermittent and continuous. The median of daily geometric mean PM2.5 concentrations was 0.143 (interquartile range (IQR): 0.213) and 0.404 (IQR: 0.243) mg/m3, accordingly. bR0.95 was very large (20.2), but wR0.95 was even greater (47.8), illustrating extremely high fluctuations in PM2.5 concentrations; γ was 0.116, and θ was 0.095. Significance: Very high occupational exposure to barbecue fumes in grillers is overlooked and likely causes elevated health risks. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc. part of Springer Nature.