Assessment of Indoor Air Quality in Small and Medium Food Industries and Effects towards Perceived IAQ Symptoms

Siti Nurshahida Nazli (), Ahmad Zia Ul-Saufie, Azli Abd Razak and Maher Elbayoumi
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Siti Nurshahida Nazli: Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pulau Pinang Kampus Bertam, Kepala Batas 13200, Malaysia
Ahmad Zia Ul-Saufie: School of Mathematical Sciences, College of Computing, Informatics and Media, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam 40450, Malaysia
Azli Abd Razak: School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam 40450, Malaysia
Maher Elbayoumi: Energy and Sustainable Environment Center, School of Engineering, Israa University, Gaza 00972, Palestine

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Cooking activities generate pollutants that can cause adverse health effects to occupants. This study aims to characterize the indoor air environment in small and medium food enterprises (SMEs), as studies in this area are scarce. Methods: A series of field measurements were conducted to investigate the IAQ at 14 SMEs selected in Pulau Pinang for three different cooking methods (frying, boiling, and baking). Data on environmental perception and health symptoms were obtained from 76 workers by using a validated questionnaire. Boosted regression tree (BRT) analysis and parametric tests were performed to evaluate the impact of the IAQ on the prevalence of disease symptoms. Results: The results showed that CO 2 , temperature, and relative humidity were higher than the standard limits, while PM 2.5 and TVOC were below the standard limits. Using BRT analysis, CO 2 was indicated as the highest pollutant to cause complaints by workers (41.55%), followed by CO (21.93%), relative humidity (11.81%), temperature (10.66%), PM 2.5 (7.07%), and TVOC (6.99%). This study indicated that workers in SMEs food industries are affected by the indoor air quality at their workplace in which CO 2 was the main parameter influencing their health. This study suggests that future research focuses on boiling and frying SMEs with CO 2 , CO, temperature, and relative humidity to be afforded emphasis.

Keywords: indoor air quality food industries; perceived IAQ symptoms; ventilation systems; cooking activities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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