Research on respiratory effects of exposure to cooking oil fumes

Inhaled irritants, under occupational exposure are known to cause detrimental effects on respiratory tract. Until today, in Turkey, there hasn?t been any research that is conducted on pathologic and clinic conditions which stem from exposure to cooking oil fumes. Primarily, our research focuses on the level of inflammation and the effects on the peripheral and the transmitter airways of two groups of workers; those who actually do the cooking and those who only work in food distribution stage within the university kitchens.In our case group, it was determined that occupational conditions, by oneself, may have the potential to affect the respiratory system, independent of smoking. We observed that exposure to cooking oil fumes has no significant effect on functional lung parameters. We ascertained increase in ENO due to exposure to fumes, independent of smoking. In our research we determined a significant rise in Scond and Sacin values because of exposure to fumes along with smoking, but on the other hand, we observed that exposure to fumes, by only itself, had no remarkable effect on the mentioned values. When we compared cases which were exposed to fumes with those who were not exposed, we noticed no difference in frequency of pulmonary symptoms. But when examined in presence of at least one respiratory symptom, we determined that exposure to fumes caused significant pulmonary symptoms.In conclusion, exposure to cooking oil fumes has symptomatic effects on lungs. Although exposure to fumes doesn?t give rise to any significant difference functionally, an inflammatory airway, which is characterized with an increase in ENO, may even cause peripheral pulmonary influence. Smoking is a primary risk factor in airway diseases, because of its intense and widespread use. And also occupational exposure is classified as a factor to increase the potentiality of the effect of smoking.