Abstract:
Efforts to understand the formation characteristics of molecular toxins and particulate
matter from various combustion systems, has gained intense attention in the recent past.
Accordingly, this work investigates the evolution of organic toxins and particulate matter
from a goat meat sample at various pyrolysis temperatures. To simulate cooking conditions,
10 mg of meat sample was heated under atmospheric conditions in an air depleted
environment in a thermal degradation reactor and the smoke effluent passed through a
transfer column and collected over 10.0 mL dichloromethane for GC-MS analysis. The major
selected toxins reported in this study include indole, 2-(1-methyl) quinoline, phenol, 2-
ethylthiophenol, 2,3-dimethylhydroquinone, and 1,1’-biphenyl. At the highest pyrolysis
temperature (700 ˚C), the mean particle size of particulate emissions was estimated to be
7.72 ± 0.61 μm while at 500 ˚C, the particle size of emissions was found to be 3.52 ± 0.31
μm. The decomposition profile of meat was monitored between 300 and 525 ˚C, and the
highest mass loss was recorded between 300 and 450 ˚C (~ 36%). Most of the organic toxins
from high temperature cooking of goat meat were mainly phenolics whereas the particulate
emissions at 500 ˚C and 700 ˚Cwere approximately PM2.5 and PM10 respectively
