New way to predict pollution from cooking emissions

Scientists are starting to understand how aerosols caused by cooking affect air quality - Organic aerosols from cooking may stay in the atmosphere for several days because of nanostructures formed by fatty acids as they are released into the air. Organic aerosols - such as those released in cooking - may stay in the atmosphere for several days because of nanostructures formed by fatty acids as they are released into the air, new research finds. By identifying the processes that control how these aerosols are transformed in the atmosphere, scientists will be able to better understand and predict their impact on the environment and the climate. Experts at the Universities of Bath and Birmingham have used instruments at the Diamond Light Source and the Central Laser Facility, both based at the Harwell Campus in Oxford, to probe the behaviour of thin films of oleic acid - an unsaturated fatty acid commonly released when cooking. For the study , published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, the researchers were able to analyse the particular molecular properties that control how rapidly aerosol emissions can be broken down in the atmosphere. Then, using a theoretical model combined with experimental data, the team was able to predict the length of time aerosols generated from cooking may hang around in the environment. These types of aerosols have long been associated with poor air quality in urban areas, but their impact on human-made climate change is hard to gauge.