Experimental study of inhalable particle concentration distribution in typical university canteens

Canteens are important places in our daily life, so it is of great significance for human health to investigate the inhalable particle concentration distributions inside them. In this work, the cooking particle concentrations in a typical university canteen with both enclosed and open style cooking units are measured by GRIMM1109, a particle measuring instrument. The results show that the enclosed or open-style cooking plays an important role in the concentration of particles. The particle number concentration is mainly contributed by the particles smaller than 1 µm. For the mass concentration at the same place however, PM10 is the top contributor, while PM1 can be negligible. The particle number and mass concentrations decrease with increasing the distance from the cooking source. The mass concentration of PM10 in the open-style cafeteria can arrive at even 0.45 mg/m3, which is 8.5 times as many as that in the traditional student canteen, and exceeds the maximum allowable concentration of 0.15 mg/m3. In contrast, the traditional student canteen with the enclosed cooking units is superior to the open-style cafeteria. It is recommended to enhance the ventilation to reduce the harmful effect of particulate matters on human health in the open-style dining hall.