What are the harms of cooking fumes to the body

It is normal to have smoke when cooking, but too much smoke and long-term inhalation of it are harmful to your health, especially to your bronchi and lungs. People with chronic bronchitis will have their condition aggravated and experience symptoms such as choking, shortness of breath or chest tightness. Therefore, you must take measures to prevent smoke every time you cook to ensure your health.

What are the hazards of oil smoke to the human body?

A large number of studies have shown that cooking fumes contain cytotoxic substances that can cause different biological effects such as chromosome damage and DNA damage, and are mutagenic. Its genetic toxicity is related to food ingredients, type of cooking oil and cooking temperature. As the temperature rises, its mutagenicity also increases accordingly. Some mutagens in cooking fumes are also carcinogenic, among which benzopyrene, volatile nitrosamines, heterocyclic amine compounds, etc. are known carcinogens.

There is currently no direct evidence that human exposure to cooking fumes causes cancer. However, some epidemiological survey results show that oil smoke is a suspected factor in the occurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer and lung cancer. Case-control studies in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Denmark found that chefs in the catering industry have a greater risk of developing lung cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, and esophageal cancer.

In addition, the sudden increase in lung cancer in women may be related to long-term exposure to high-temperature oil fumes. A study by the "Lung Cancer" research team led by Professor He Yumin of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine showed that long-term exposure to high-temperature fumes when cooking in the kitchen for middle-aged and young women will increase their risk of lung cancer by 2 to 3 times. Because high-temperature fumes from cooking in the kitchen produce toxic smoke, the local environment deteriorates. The toxic smoke irritates the eyes and throat for a long time and damages the cell tissue of the respiratory system. If not protected, it is easy to cause a high incidence of lung cancer. Data from a survey on malignant tumor incidence published by the Shanghai Institute of Oncology show that lung cancer has become the malignant tumor with the highest incidence and mortality rates in the Shanghai population. Among female cancer patients, the incidence of lung cancer ranks second only to breast cancer, and its mortality rate also ranks first.