Emerging Oxidative, Metabolic, and Inflammatory States Associated with Working in Charcoal-Grill Shops: An Exploratory Study

Cooking with dirty fuels has been associated with an increased risk of malignancies and respiratory illnesses in kitchen and/or restaurant workers, but research on the potential oxidative stress, metabolic, and inflammatory disease risks is lagging in this demographic. Therefore, this paper addresses this gap by assessing the risk of these disease states among grill shop workers in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We used a cross-sectional design, comparing grill shop workers with controls from occupations unrelated to cooking or grilling. We measured fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin, cholesterol levels, and other metabolic parameters. Oxidative stress was measured by plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), while Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive Protein (hsCRP) assessed inflammatory states. Grill shop workers had higher levels of FBG [103.00 (IQR:99.00–111.75)] vs. controls [98.00 (IQR:95.25–100.00)] mg/dL; nominal p = 0.001. Also, the workers had higher MDA [1.65 (IQR:1.27–2.32)] vs. controls [0.93 (IQR:0.808–1.410) μmol/L; nominal p = 0.002]. In regression analysis, working in charcoal-grill shops was associated with elevated FBG, triglycerides, MDA, and lower hsCRP (nominal p < 0.05). Nevertheless, since these results are exploratory, longitudinal studies are required to confirm them.