Burger Joints Cause More Air Pollution Than Trucks, Study Says

Up until now, we have argued on various occasions that the meat industry is a potential threat to environmental protection due to the fact that raising cattle and poultry in order to keep the food industry up and running in its current form places incredible strain on natural resources.

However, one recent study carried out by environmental scientists working with the University of California, Riverside, argues that as far as the US is concerned, burger joints need also be held responsible for releasing significant amounts of harmful chemical compounds into the atmosphere.

More precisely, it is the businesses of charbroiling or grilling hamburgers that supposedly damages air quality more than your almost-always-frowned-upon trucks do.

Daily Mail quotes researcher Bill Welch, who is presently working with the Center for Environmental Research Technology, and who presented the findings of this recent study in a very straightforward manner.

Thus, he made a case of how, “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.”

He further elaborated on this issue as follows: “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.”

Interestingly enough, grilled hamburgers have been proven to be a tad more environmentally-friendly than charbroiled ones are.

Truth be told, most of the people who, at some point in their lives, have decided to invite friends over for a barbecue are well aware of the fact that standing in front of the grill and looking after those very appealing hamburgers is not an easy task, given the fact that smoke keeps rising and affecting both nostrils and eyesight.

Based on this personal experience alone, one can easily estimate the ecological footprint of various burger joints that feed countless of people on a daily basis.

The good news is that researchers are presently trying to find a solution to this problem.

As they put it, “Our goal is to find something cost-effective and technically feasible to reduce the smoke.”