Air Fryers are Good for Air Quality

Ahhh, the smells of good cooking are so comforting!  What you might not know, however, is how much air pollution our kitchen appliances generate when you’re making a meal.  A 2019 New Yorker article detailed how researchers cooked a Thanksgiving dinner in a test home and found that levels of fine particulate matter reached as high as 285 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3). In comparison, fine particulate matter levels in New Delhi, which has poor air quality, average around 225 µg/m3 during the dirtier winter months!  Of all the ways to cook, however, one “new” appliance is better for you than others: air fryers.

Although air fryers technically aren’t “new” (they’ve been offered in the retail sector since at least 2010), their popularity has soared over the past few years as manufacturers added more functions to the appliance, making it more like a countertop Swiss Army Knife.  Many models boast 6 or more “modes”, from grilling, broiling, toasting, baking, convection baking to air frying.   They offer energy savings too, as many people are cooking only for themselves or a few people.   

In a 2024 study at the University of Birmingham in England, researchers measured the levels of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by cooking a chicken breast using five different methods: pan frying, stir-frying, deep-fat frying, boiling and air-frying.  Here are the results:

• Particulate matter: peak concentrations were measured in micrograms per cubic metre of air. 
• Pan frying: 92.9
• Stir-frying: 26.7
• Deep frying: 7.7
• Boiling: 0.7
• Air-frying: 0.6.
• VOCs: measured in ‘parts per billion’, or ppb. 
• Pan-frying: 260 ppb
• Deep frying: 230 ppb
• Stir-frying: 110 ppb
• Boiling: 30 ppb
• Air-frying: 20 ppb

Of course, not everyone has access to an air fryer, but no matter what cooking method you use, lead author Professor Christian Pfrang emphasized the use of ventilation (exhaust fan or at least an open window) during cooking to remove and dilute particulates and VOCs. Ventilation should be continued even after the cooking is finished, to evacuate the pollutants that are still being generated by hot surfaces.  

Additionally, using ventilation when cooking (especially with gas stoves) is better for children’s health, because it produces less nitrogen dioxide (NO2).  A 2024 pilot study encouraged the use of ventilation and cooking on the stove’s back burners, because each of these reduce cooking emissions in the home.  The study used a short video to educate parents and caregivers on the creation of air pollution during cooking, and the connection between that pollution and childhood respiratory illness.  Watching the video increased use of the back burner and ventilation, which in turn decreased NO2 in the home. 

Photo by Kevin McCutcheon on Unsplash