in World News NOAA Urges Crackdown on Home Cooking Due to ‘Ozone Production’
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The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is urging a crackdown on home cooking over claims that cooked food is causing too much “ozone production.”
NOAA researchers warn in a study that “volatile organic compounds” released into the air while cooking food contribute to potentially harmful “ozone pollution.”
The study claims that home cooking causes more “ozone pollution” in busy urban areas than vehicles powered by gas and diesel.
The California-based researchers behind the study warn:
“Potent and often pungent volatile organic compounds given off from cooking food are now responsible for over a quarter of the ozone production from VOCs generated by human activity” in the Los Angeles basin.
They continue by claiming that cooking is one of the main contributors to “climate change.”
In Los Angeles, the study alleges that cooked food generates as much ozone as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from fueled vehicles.
NOAA chemist Chelsea Stockwell, one of the researchers behind the study, said:
“We knew from our research that chemical compounds from cooking can make up an important fraction of VOCs present in urban air, but they were not well-represented in inventories or included in air quality models.”
She noted that ignoring home cooking “may be a blind spot when it comes to urban ozone production.”
Ozone forms when VOCs and nitrogen oxides—primarily from vehicle emissions—undergo photochemical reactions.
While natural sources like trees contribute about half of all VOCs, human activities, including cooking, paints, pesticides, and adhesives, account for the rest.
High ozone levels can be toxic to humans, animals, and plants.