Burger grease weighs heavy on SoCal air

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RIVERSIDE, Calif., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Commercial charbroilers emit more particulate matter into the air than diesel truck engines, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, said.

Commercial cooking equipment is the second-largest source of particulate matter in Southern California's South Coast Air Basin. Researchers co-funded by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District are evaluating potential controls.

"Emissions from commercial charbroilers are a very significant uncontrolled source of particulate matter ... more than twice the contribution by all of the heavy-duty diesel trucks," Bill Welch, principal development engineer for the study at UC Riverside's Center for Environmental Research and Technology said Wednesday in a university release. "For comparison, an 18-wheeler diesel-engine truck would have to drive 143 miles on the freeway to put out the same mass of particles as a single charbroiled hamburger patty."