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Introduction
Waste cooking oils, also known as used cooking oils or recovered vegetable
oils result from the cooking of food by home cookers, food manufacturers and
catering establishments such as restaurants and industrial kitchens. We are
looking at the health hazards of re-using cooking oil more than once and the
effects of improper disposal of waste cooking oils.
Background
Re-using cooking oil
The use of cooking oil more than once poses threats to the health of the
community. A toxic compound – 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE)
normally accumulate over time in some vegetable oils (e.g. corn, soybean,
canola, sunflower oils) and this will react with amino acids, DNA and other
biomolecules in the human body. HNE consumption can lead to diseases such
as heart diseases, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, liver and
other diseases (Csallany in Morrison, 2006).
Hence people are advised to refrain from heating any oil to the 1point of
smoking and should never reuse the same cooking oil when cooking at home.
If eating out, they should avoid eating fried food (Mercola, 2005).
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The smoke point of an oil is the temperature at which the oil begins to decompose and visible fumes (smoke) are given
off. The oil begins to breakdown creating acreolein , an obnoxious-smelling compound.
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Liquefied fat, oil, or grease (FOG) that is poured down the kitchen sink drain
can cause serious impacts. FOG can cling to the insides of pipes and the
sewer system. Over time, it can build up and can eventually block pipes
completely. If wastewater can’t move freely through pipes and out into the
sewer system, it can back up into your home and can cause unsanitary
conditions and damages that can be expensive to repair.
(Department of Environmental Protection, 2006)
Problems of “logging”
When waste oil is poured down the house drains and sewers, “logging”
problems will arise. This is because the soil will become sealed off from air
and water, killing the earth worms and bacteria necessary for regeneration of
plants (ENFO, 2006).
Production of bacteria
The production of bacteria will arise due to the accumulation of the solid oil
waste (ENFO, 2006).
Economically…
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More money is spent in fixing property damage caused from sewage backups
resulting in expensive clean up and plumbing repairs. Clogged sewers can
also lead to overflows, which can runoff into the street and straight into the
storm drain system, and eventually into our creeks and streams without
being treated. Again, more money is needed to mitigate this problem.
Situation in Brunei
Presently, there are no proper facilities for the disposal of waste cooking oil
wastes in Brunei Darussalam. In addition to that, there is no enforcement on
the use of the guidelines of proper waste disposal.
Findings
The improper disposal of waste cooking oil in Brunei is not, at present, a big
threat to the environment according to the DOE (Personal Communicator). It
is a requirement in all restaurants to have a grease trap in their kitchen to
dispose their solid and liquid wastes properly (DOH). The wastes are disposed
in this trap which will be collected by a company (i.e. Thomas Cowan) and be
treated before dumping it at a dumping site. Such trap or service is not,
however, available in housing areas.
Conclusion
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The main problem in Brunei in reference to waste cooking oil is that there are
no proper guidelines for the public, for disposing cooking oil properly.
Although the relevant authorities say it is not a big threat, they do agree that
this kind of problem can be handled by minimising reused cooking oil. There
is no formal public awareness of the health consequences of reusing used
cooking oil in their cooking.
References:
Department of Environmental Protection staff (2006). Grease Disposal Tips for
Consumers. Retrieved August, 30th 2006 from
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/congrease.html
ENFO staff (2006). Recycling Oil. Retrieved September, 3rd 2006 from
http://www.enfo.ie/leaflets/as27.htm
Morrison (2006). Change your oil everyday: Reusing Vegetable Oil for frying
could have health consequences. Retrieved September, 3rd 2006 from
http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Change_your_oil_every_day.h
tml
Appendice
Sample survey (questionnaire)
UNIVERSITI BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
This survey will be used for our course PS3403: A Multidisciplinary Approach
for a Sustainable Environment group project regarding “USED COOKING OIL
WASTE”. Any matters regarding this survey/questionnaire will be kept as
confidential.
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Please tick in the appropriate box.
1. Age:
20 35
20-25 25-30 30-35
below above
2. Sex:
Male: Female
:
3. How many liters of cooking oil do you purchase per month on average?
1 litre
2 – 5 litres
6 – 10 litres
Over 10 litres
4. Do you keep and reuse the cooking oil after you have used it for frying?
Yes No
5. How do you dispose your used cooking oil? (*You can tick more than 1 box)
Sink Drain Garbage bin Soil
Road Others, please
state
6. What is the effect of disposing used cooking oil in the way you have
disposed it?
8. What do you think are the consequences of using too much oil in cooking?
10. If cooking oil waste can be recycled in Brunei, would you travel and send
them to the recycling centre?
Yes No Don’t
Care