Cooking Fume Particulate Matter as an Indoor Air Pollution Source: Comparative Measurement Methods and Correction Factors

Cooking fumes are an important source of indoor and outdoor air pollution. Containing potentially carcinogenic particles and toxic chemical components, they pose significant health threats, making precise detection essential for risk prevention and the formulation of emission standards. This study used the manual gravimetric analysis as the benchmark reference method to systematically evaluate the performance of three alternative measurement techniques: (1) an optical particle counter (Promo 3000, Palas GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany), (2) a photometer (DustTrak 8533, TSI, Shoreview, MN, USA), and (3) infrared spectrophotometry. A data correction model was constructed by simulating typical cooking conditions. Results indicate that the manual gravimetric analysis yielded the highest particulate concentrations. Infrared spectrophotometry measured only 75.6% of the benchmark value, mainly because of its selectivity toward oil-derived organic components and possible sampling losses. The optical particle counter, influenced by particle light-scattering properties and density differences, underestimated the mass concentration of particles larger than 0.3 μm, capturing only 46.9% of the benchmark value. Conversely, the photometer exhibited the smallest deviation, with readings closest to the gravimetric reference under the tested cooking fumes conditions. Theoretical derivation and data fitting determined correction factors of 1.32 for infrared spectrophotometry, 2.13 for the optical particle counter for particles larger than 0.3 μm, and 0.97 for the photometer. This correction system enables the standardization of data across different detection methods, allowing on-site monitoring data to be calibrated against the gravimetric reference method.