A controlled study for the characterization of PM2.5 emitted during grilling ground beef meat

•Size segregated PM, OC and EC mass emission rates and concentrations were measured.•Fe, Ti and Sr were the three most abundant trace elements in the PM.•Pb, Mn, and V concentrations were greater than the WHO exposure limit.•A new approach was presented to estimate effective volume using emission flux values.

Experiments were conducted in an on-campus house at Middle East Technical University Northern Cyprus Campus during January 2015. Low fat ground beef meat was grilled using an electric stove with no mechanical or natural ventilation. Five PM size fractions ranging from 3.3 µm to less than 0.43 µm were investigated in this study. The total particle emission rate and flux values were found to be 4.49×101 mg min-1 and 1.45×103 mg min-1 m-2, respectively. Total OC emission rate and flux values were 2.3×101 mg min-1 and 7.33×102 mg min-1 m-2, respectively, and total EC emission rate and flux values were determined to be 1.19 mg min-1 and 3.85×101 mg min-1 m-2, respectively. Analyses of trace metal concentrations showed that Fe (0.429 mg m-3), Ti (0.270 mg.m-3), Sr (0.27 mg m-3), Ba (0.24 mg m-3) and Li (0.23 mg m-3) were the five most abundant trace elements in the PM produced during grilling ground beef. Pb, Mn, and V concentrations were found to be greater than the World Health Organization (WHO) exposure limit.