What are the effects of cooking fumes on pregnant women and fetuses?

After becoming pregnant, many pregnant women choose to stay at home and take care of the fetus. In Chinese families, women often play the role of housewives. Even during pregnancy, the responsibility of cooking falls on them. Cooking easily produces fumes, and if they are frequently exposed to these gases, there are concerns that it will affect the development of the fetus. So, what impact does oil smoke have on pregnant women and fetuses? Let’s take a look below.

Cooking fumes contain tar, carbon monoxide, benzopyrene, acrolein and other carcinogens. After inhalation, they will first choke the nose and cause respiratory discomfort. Secondly, if the concentration is too high, it will inhibit the mother's central nervous system and have a certain impact on the health of both mother and baby.

The harm of often smelling oil smoke to pregnant women

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Oil fumes contain a certain amount of carbon monoxide, which will combine with hemoglobin when inhaled by pregnant women, easily causing insufficient oxygen supply and leading to carbon monoxide poisoning. In mild cases, there is only a slight headache or nausea and vomiting, and in severe cases, the patient may even fall into a coma.

Irritation of respiratory mucosa

The fumes from cooking contain a variety of highly irritating substances that can irritate the nasal, eye, and throat mucosa, causing coughing, tearing, and throat discomfort. If you often choke and cough from the smell of fumes in early pregnancy, it may also affect the stability of the fetus.

Increased risk of lung cancer

A five-year epidemiological survey on lung cancer conducted by Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine found that among non-smoking female lung cancer patients, more than 60% were exposed to kitchen fumes for a long time, and 32% of them liked to fry food in high-temperature oil when cooking.

Skin damage

Oil smoke will adhere to our exposed skin and hair. If this continues for a long time, it will clog the pores and cause acne. It will also accelerate cell damage and aging, causing the skin to age and become dull and lifeless.

How to reduce the harm of oil smoke to human body

Use fresh oil to cook, not fried or heated oil

Because the smoke point of used oil (the temperature at which the oil starts to smoke) will drop, this means that there will be more smoke when cooking, causing greater harm to the operator.

Try not to choose stir-fried, fried or over-oiled dishes.

Because at this time the pot is often already emitting a lot of flames before the vegetables are put in, and its temperature often exceeds 300℃, at this time a large amount of toxic substances or carcinogens will be produced.

Put the vegetables in when there is no smoke yet.

I will teach you a simple method. Just put the vegetables in 10 seconds after pouring the oil. At this time, the oil temperature is often not high and the temperature for cooking is suitable.

Don't stir-fry, deep-fry or pan-fry every dish in every meal

You can choose steaming, boiling, stewing, and cold dressing methods, which can not only reduce the generation of oil smoke, but also reduce the intake of fat.

Using a range hood

Invest in an efficient range hood and turn it on whenever you start cooking. It is best to choose a range hood that is installed very close to the fire source. Don't buy the European style. The standard for an effective range hood to extract oil is that you can't smell the smell of cooking when it is one meter away from the stove. You may want to try it at home.