Particulate Emissions from High Temperature Pyrolysis of Cashew Nuts

Abstract

High temperature pyrolysis procedures of such foods as meat, cashew nuts, and coco beans
are associated with bio-hazardous emissions that may be precursors for respiratory health
problems including oxidative stress, cancer and lung damage. In this study, 20 mg of
powdered cashew nuts was pyrolyzed in a quartz reactor system of volume ~ 1.6 cm3 at
two different temperatures (500 ˚C and 700 ˚C) under 1 atmosphere pressure at a total
pyrolysis time of 5 minutes. Particulate emissions were collected in amber vials and
extracted using 2 mL dichloromethane through a porous tube diluter. To explore the surface
morphology of particulate emissions, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used.
Image J computer software was used to measure the size of particulate emissions while Igor
graphical code was used to plot the size distribution curves of particulate emissions.
Accordingly, it was found that the size of particulates was 13.41 ± 3.47µm at 500 ˚C and
12.44 ± 4.33µm at 700 ˚C. These particulates were approximately within the PM10 (10
microns) category of respirable particulates. The findings generated from this study are
critical in understanding the potential health risks resulting from inhaling particulate
emissions from high temperature cooking processes