Buying an air purifier for restaurants

Everyone enjoys a night out at a restaurant. Customers who frequent restaurants come to let go of the week’s stress and enjoy a meal with loved ones. The last thing customers want to be concerned about is whether or not they are breathing clean air. Unfortunately, the reality is that the indoor air found in restaurants and bars often contains unsafe pollutants and aerosols that may pose dangers to our health. Which types of airborne contaminants can be found in restaurants? Can an air purifier in a restaurant help? Read below to learn more.

Indoor air quality in restaurants

Throughout Europe, the subject of indoor air quality (IAQ) has been making headlines in the past few years. In August of 2022, the United Nations General Assembly declared that ‘everyone on the planet has the right to a healthy environment, including clean air, water, and a stable climate’¹. With 99% of the world’s population breathing air that exceeds the World Health Organization’s standards, it has become more important than ever to put clean breathing air at the top of our priority list. This is particularly pertinent to our indoor spaces which are generally 2 to 5 times more polluted than our outdoor spaces, sometimes even surpassing 100 times more polluted².

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Sources of air pollution in a restaurant

Indoor eating establishments are no exception to the above statement regarding pollution of indoor spaces. Sources of indoor air pollution in restaurants, bars, cafés, and similar places may include the following:

• Fine particle pollution (also known as ‘particulate matter’ or PM) including PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Allergens like dust and pollen
• Germs like bacteria and viruses found in aerosols (including COVID-19)
• Combustion gases and fumes as a result of restaurant cooking fuel
• Mould and its spores
• Cooking smells and frying odours in restaurant establishments that may disturb customers³

Fine particle pollution in restaurants

Fine particles in restaurants are a real problem that may lead to respiratory issues amongst staff and guests alike. A 2021 study that conducted a week-long analysis of indoor air quality in an open-kitchen restaurant found that the levels of PM10 and PM2.5 were ‘offensively harmful’, far exceeding both WHO and US EPA standards for healthy air quality⁴. Chances of contracting respiratory health problems are high for frequent diners and restaurant professionals in establishments where frying and/or grilling take place.

Cooking is a source of indoor PM in both homes and commercial kitchens, emitting significant levels of PM2.5^5,6 into our indoor environments. Exposure to PM2.5 has been associated with a variety of negative health effects including respiratory disease (like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD), multiple types of cancer (especially lung cancer), heart disease, pregnancy complications, and mental health disorders, to name a few. Pregnant women, children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals are particularly at risk.

Multiple studies have focused on the impact of air pollution in commercial kitchens. One such study was performed on 14 different restaurants that cook with charcoal throughout Kocaeli, Turkey’s second-largest city. The study found high levels of both fine particle pollution and trace metals present in the air. On average, PM2.5 levels were measured to be four times higher than the acceptable limit. Arsenic and chromium (IV) oxide, two airborne trace metals detected, have been associated with the most significant risk of cancer amongst restaurant workers⁷.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in restaurants

Another study conducted by the University of California Riverside on commercial meat cooking operations made findings on air quality in restaurants and bars. In addition to substantial levels of fine particulate matter, high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured: more specifically, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. VOCs cause a host of negative health effects, and formaldehyde is a known carcinogen in humans. This poses dangers to both restaurant staff and guests⁸.

VOCs are also released into our indoor environments through the use of everyday products including cleaning and disinfection products, new furniture, pesticides, candles, air fresheners, and more. Wooden furniture, decorative items, and construction materials used during building (like paints and varnishes) can off-gas formaldehyde and other contaminants in a restaurant for up to two years⁹. This contributes drastically to poor indoor air quality and poses dangers to our health.

Bacteria and viruses in restaurants

Restaurants provide potential for high risk of airborne microorganisms and infection. This is why these establishments remained closed during the COVID-19 pandemic: the SARS-CoV-2 virus was easily spread in restaurants.

Dining rooms and restrooms of restaurant establishments are places where pathogens like COVID-19 often circulate, leading to infection. In fact, at the height of the pandemic, COVID infection was 4% more likely to occur in individuals who had frequented restaurants or bars¹¹. In places like restaurants where people release contaminated micro-droplets (aerosols) by eating, drinking, coughing, and talking without masks, contamination is at its highest potential. Exhalation of contaminated particles in aerosols in a restaurant setting leads to infection. Additionally, aerosols can remain airborne for up to several hours (two to three hours according to a study in Spain10), posing not just an immediate risk but one that can impact others long after an infected person has left the establishment.

Post-pandemic, many individuals still remain wary of potential exposure to disease and infection. Some customers may even search out restaurants that are equipped with air purifiers in restaurants that are designed to target bacteria and viruses in aerosols: guests expect a clean, pollutant-free environment in your establishment. An air purifier designed for dining rooms can significantly reduce indoor air pollution, combatting microbe concentrations in restaurants.

Customers are not the only individuals impacted by poor indoor air quality in business establishments. Propagation of bacteria and viruses also has implications for restaurant owners and staff from a business standpoint. Due to social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants were limited as to how many individuals they could allow inside at any given time to limit concentration of aerosols. Recruiting of staff also remains a challenge in 2023 as a result of the pandemic because it was and remains difficult for restaurants to enforce social distancing and keep staff healthy and safe.

Mould, dust, and pollen allergens in restaurants

Mould, dust, and pollen are three commonly-found forms of airborne allergens found inside a restaurant. Mould may be found in soda dispensers, beer lines, sinks, drains, floor mats, fridges, and coffee machines¹². In order to proliferate, mould releases spores into our breathing air that can cause uncomfortable respiratory symptoms. They can also trigger asthma attacks in asthma sufferers.

Dust, dust mites, and pollen are equally as common in restaurants. In addition to their airborne presence, they can accumulate in all types of soft furnishings – couches, chairs, curtains, rugs, carpets, and more. The presence of dust and pollen leads to allergy symptoms in many individuals ranging from mild to severe. Exposure to these allergens is another major trigger of asthma attacks in asthma sufferers.

How does an air purifier for restaurants work?

Air purifiers work by pulling polluted air into the device, treating pollutants using one or more air filtration technologies, then recirculating the purified air back into the room. An air purifier for use in a restaurant should be designed for continuous use and should have multiple air filtration technologies to target a variety of air pollutant types. Some air purification technologies that are commonly found in air purifiers include:

• Pre-filters
• HEPA-certified filters
• Activated carbon filters
• Photocatalysis
• Ionisation (negative ions)
• Ultraviolet (UVC) sterilisation

Read more about Eoleaf’s proprietary 8-step purification process here.

The benefits of an air purifier for restaurants

Installing a high-performance air purifier in a restaurant can bring a variety of benefits to everyone that visits and uses the space.

Decrease the risk of cross-contamination and infection caused by airborne illnesses and pollutants

A high-quality air purifier is guaranteed to remove 99.97% of contaminants from your space. This includes viruses and emerging viral variants, bacteria, mould, dust and dust mites, allergens, and VOCs.

By using an air purifier in a restaurant for air filtration and purification, the risk associated with these airborne contaminants (particularly cross-infection by pathogens found in aerosols) is substantially reduced. As a result, customers, guests, and staff are protected from illnesses, fine particle pollution, and chemical pollution (VOCs).

Provide safer working environments for your staff

Removing contaminants found in your restaurant’s breathing air through air filtration and purification can have a positive impact on your staff and restaurant professionals. By continually providing clean air, working conditions and performance will greatly improve. Protecting your restaurant employees from biological air pollution like bacteria, viruses, mould, spores, dust, and dust mites helps ward off negative health effects and keep them healthy. Allergy symptoms, asthma attack triggers, and airborne disease risk are all reduced by properly implementing an air purification device.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the use of a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA)-certified air purifier as an effective way to reduce infection at home and in the workplace¹³. However, the organisation emphasises that not just any air purifier will eliminate diseases as small as SARS-CoV-2 from the air. The device must be high-performance, capable of filtering 99.97% of extremely small particles and aerosols. HEPA-certified air purification devices are guaranteed to do so and keep your indoor air healthy.

Multiple studies have demonstrated the importance of removing fine particles and other contaminants from the air in the workplace. One study found that poor air quality can impact productivity and performance amongst employees by 6 to 9%¹⁴. It can also cause symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and dizziness, increasing the rates of absenteeism and sick leave in restaurants. Guest dissatisfaction is also increased as a result of indoor fine particulate air pollution. Another study by Harvard University showed that increased concentrations of PM2.5 and CO2 lead to impaired cognitive function and decreased efficiency across many professional disciplines¹⁵.

Investing in indoor air purification is investing in your employees and your business. Employees who see an employer that cares about their well-being also instils confidence and trust. This is a sentiment that will spread to new hires and facilitate the restaurant hiring process.

Increase customer confidence

Restaurant hygiene and comfort are two crucial factors that can make or break the customer restaurant experience. That said, indoor air quality can have a huge impact on the image of your business as seen by guests. You can control the image of your brand by showing customers that you put them first. Transparency goes a long way: customers will then associate your establishment as a place that cares about their health and well-being through air purification, enhancing their dining experience. The better the ambiance in your restaurant, the more you will encourage guests to return!

How to choose an air purifier for restaurants?