ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Charcoal Grill Restaurants Deteriorate Outdoor
Air Quality by Emitting Volatile Organic
Compounds
Hekap Kim, Se-bin Lee
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Department of Environmental Science, College of Natural Sciences, Kangwon National University,
Chuncheon, 200-701 Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2012;21(6):1667-1673
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ABSTRACT
Our study investigated outdoor air pollution caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as
BTEX and n-alkanes emitted from charcoal grill restaurants. Twenty sites were selected from a city in Korea
for outdoor-air sampling. On average, the concentrations of all VOCs in the areas of the charcoal grill restaurants
were significantly 1.3-to-2.6-fold higher than those in the non-charcoal-grill areas at the 1% level. The
results showed that charcoal grill restaurants are responsible for both indoor and outdoor air pollution, which
can cause health problems for pedestrians and residents in such areas as well as restaurant workers and customers.