Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in traditionally smoked meat products from the Baltic states

Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in smoked pork tissue of different characteristic

This study investigates the distribution of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in traditionally and industrially smoked pork (loin, neck, bacon), focusing on differences between tissue types. The samples were analyzed using GC-FID after solid-liquid and solid-phase extraction. In traditionally smoked loin (median 9.73 μg/kg), the highest PAH concentration was in the skin (14.95 μg/kg), followed by exterior (6.46 μg/kg), interior (1.72 μg/kg) and center (0.10 μg/kg). In industrially smoked lion, median concentration was 0.61 μg/kg in the skin, no PAH were detected in the interior. For traditionally smoked neck (median 28.38 μg/kg) adipose tissue contained about 20 % less PAH than skin, but about 30 % more than marble and 60 % more than lean tissue. In traditionally smoked bacon (median 52.71 μg/kg), fat tissue contained 10 % less than skin and 20 % more than lean layer. Industrially smoked bacon had PAH levels below 1 μg/kg; light hydrocarbons prevailed. Post-smoking stages (drying, aging, vacuum wrapping) reduced PAH levels by 11-32 % (up to 24 % in exterior and 10 % in interior). Risk assessment indicated that weekly consumption of 50 g of smoked pork posed negligible cancer risk for all meat species, though daily bacon intake may pose a slight risk. The study highlights PAH variability across pork tissues, helping consumers make health-conscious dietary choices while preserving smoked pork consumption traditions.

Smoked and Fermented Bushmeat (Mpunam) Products: Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Resulting From Processing

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) congener concentrations and risk upon human exposure to smoked bushmeat products were analyzed. GC/MS MRM and QuEChERS methods were used for the analysis. This work has become necessary due to the need for more information concerning the quantitative determination of these compounds and their health risk assessment. The 16 PAH congeners identified were acenaphthylene (ACA), naphthalene (NAP), acenaphthene (ACE), fluorene (FLU), anthracene (ANT), phenanthrene (PHE), fluoranthene (FLT), pyrene (PYR), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BBF), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BKF), benzo[a]anthracene (BAA), chrysene (CHR), indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (IND), dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (DAA), benzo(g,h,i)pyrene (BGP), and benzo[a]pyrene (BAP). At the 5% and 95% daily intake levels, BAP was at 3.34 and 17.39 μg/kg(bw)/day, ΣPAH4 was at 25.11 and 109.15 μg/kg(bw)/day, and ΣPAH8 was at 55.76 and 236.68 μg/kg(bw)/day, respectively. BAP, ΣPAH4, and ΣPAH8 concentration exceeded the European Union limits, as BAP concentration was as low as 6.09 μg/kg and as high as 34.19. The exposure values were significantly high. Specifically, the margin of exposure for BAP was as low as 2.09 × 10-2; for ΣPAH4, it was 1.36 × 10--2; and for ΣPAH8, it was 1.95 × 10-2 all at the 95% level. These figures are substantially lower than the benchmark of 10,000, indicating a higher ILTCR. Furthermore, the ILTCR ranged from a minimum of 47.77 to a maximum of 248.53 at the 5% and 95% levels, respectively. This study makes smoked bushmeat a public health concern because the higher figures obtained indicate higher carcinogenicity upon consumption.

Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Processed Meat, Cooked Meat and Fish-Based Products Using the Margin of Exposure Approach

Background

The objective of this study is to assess the risk of exposure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCAs) in meat and fish-based products marketed in Malaysia using the margin of exposure (MOE) approach.

Methods

Benchmark Dose (BMD) software was used to model the BMD at a lower end of a one-sided 95% confidence interval with a 10% incremental risk (BMDL10) of PAHs and HCAs from different target organ toxicities. The MOEs of PAHs and HCAs in meat and fish-based products were determined by utilising the calculated BMDL10 values and estimated daily intake of meat and fish-based products from published data.

Results

The calculated BMDL10 values of PAHs (i.e. benzo[a]pyrene [BaP] and fluoranthene [FA]) and HCAs (i.e. 2-amino-3,8,dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline [MeIQx] and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5,6]pyridine [PhIP]) ranged from 19 mg/kg bw/day to 71,801 mg/kg bw/day. The MOE of BaP ranged from 41,895 to 71,801 and that of FA ranged from 19 to 1412. As for MeIQx and PhIP, their MOEs ranged from 6,322 to 7,652 and from 2,362 to 14,390, respectively.

Conclusion

The MOEs of FA, MeIQx and PhIP were lower than 10,000, indicating a high concern for human health and therefore demanding effective risk management actions.

The Effects of Different Natural Plant Extracts on the Formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Roast Duck

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with high carcinogenicity and mutagenicity may be generated in roast duck during high-temperature roasting. Natural extracts with antioxidant effects may inhibit the formation of PAHs. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of green tea extract (GTE); extract of bamboo leaves (EBL); grape seed extract (GSE) and rosemary extract (RE) on PAHs in roast duck to obtain the optimum extract and present a guidance for reducing PAHs in roast duck. The total phenol content and antioxidant capacity of the four extracts were measured, and the PAH changes in the roast duck caused by the four extracts were detected. The total phenol content of GTE was the highest, 277 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g, while RE was the lowest at 85 mg GAE/g. The antioxidant capacity of RE was 1.9 mmol Trolox/g, which was significantly lower than that of the other three. The four extracts inhibited PAHs formation in roast duck to varying degrees: When the concentration was 25 g/kg, the best inhibitory effects on Benzo [a] pyrene (BaP) and PAH4 (BaP, BaA, BbF and CHR) were obtained from GTE, with inhibition rates of 75.8% and 79.7%, respectively, while the weakest inhibition rates, 32.7% and 43.6%, respectively, were from RE.

The Content of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Slavonska slanina—Traditionally Smoked and Dry-Cured Bacon

The goal of this study was to determine the concentrations of 16 PAHs (PAH16) naphthalene—Nap, acenaphthylene—Anl, acenaphthene—Ane, fluorene—Flu, phenanthrene—Phen, anthracene—Ant, fluoranthene—Flt, pyrene—Pyr, benz[a]anthracene—BaA, chrysene—Chry, benzo[b]fluoranthene—BbF, benzo[k]fluoranthene—BkF, benzo[a]pyrene—BaP, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene—InP, dibenz[a,h]anthracene—DahA and benzo[g,h,i]perylene—BghiP) in Slavonska slanina traditionally smoked bacon over open fire and industrially smoked on a smoke generator with a heated plate. In the samples of Slavoska slanina smoked in a traditional manner, the presence of 11 out of 16 analyzed PAHs was determined (Nap, Anl, Ane, Fln, Ant, Phen, Flt, BaA, Pyr, BbF, BkF). In the samples smoked in industrial conditions, only 2 out of 16 (Nap, Anl) were quantified. In the samples smoked with open fire (the traditional method), PAH4 (BaA, BaP BbF, Chry) concentations were as follows: 14.84 μg kg−1 in the middle, 10.60 μg kg−1 on the surface and 17.37 μg kg−1 in the skin, while the PAH4 content in the samples smoked in industrial conditions were below the level of quantification (<LOQ). The content of carcinogenic BaP was below the limit of quantification in all investigated samples. These findings support the fact that traditional smoking may result in a product safe for consumption, as far as the prescribed legislative recommendations are concerned, but constant monitoring is still needed.

Chemical hazards in smoked meat and fish

This review aims to give an insight into the main hazards currently found in smoked meat and fish products. Literature research was carried out on international databases such as Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) database, Science direct, and Google scholar to collect and select 92 relevant publications included in this review. The smoking process was described and five hazards mostly found in smoked fish and meat were presented. The heat-induced compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic amines, and nitrosamines were found in smoked fish and meat. Other hazards such as biogenic amines and heavy metals were also present in smoked fish and meat. The levels of these hazards reported from the literature exceeded the maximal limits of European Union. A brief description of risk assessment methodology applicable to such toxic compounds and risk assessment examples was also presented in this review. As most of the hazards reported in this review are toxic and even carcinogenic to humans, actions should be addressed to reduce their presence in food to protect consumer health and to prevent public health issue.

Comprehensive Strategy for Sample Preparation for the Analysis of Food Contaminants and Residues by GC-MS/MS: A Review of Recent Research Trends

Food safety and quality have been gaining increasing attention in recent years. Gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), a highly sensitive technique, is gradually being preferred to GC-MS in food safety laboratories since it provides a greater degree of separation on contaminants. In the analysis of food contaminants, sample preparation steps are crucial. The extraction of multiple target analytes simultaneously has become a new trend. Thus, multi-residue analytical methods, such as QuEChERs and adsorption extraction, are fast, simple, cheap, effective, robust, and safe. The number of microorganic contaminants has been increasing worldwide in recent years and are considered contaminants of emerging concern. High separation in MS/MS might be, in certain cases, favored to sample preparation selectivity. The ideal sample extraction procedure and purification method should take into account the contaminants of interest. Moreover, these methods should cooperate with high-resolution MS, and other sensitive full scan MSs that can produce a more comprehensive detection of contaminants in foods. In this review, we discuss the most recent trends in preparation methods for highly effective detection and analysis of food contaminants, which can be considered tools in the control of food quality and safety.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in dry tea leaves and tea infusions in Vietnam: contamination levels and dietary risk assessment

The total mean ∑[Formula: see text] in samples were from 75.3 to 387.0 ng/g dry weight (d.w) and showed high value in black dry tea, followed by herbal, oolong, and green tea. The mean ∑[Formula: see text] (a combination of benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, and benzo[a]pyrene) values were 54.3 ng/g, 16.4 ng/g, 14.2 ng/g, and 6.6 ng/g for black, herbal, green, and oolong teas, respectively. Concentration for benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) was from 0.4 to 35.8 ng/g, and the BaP equivalent concentration values ranged from 0.3 to 48.1 ng/g. There was only 1 black tea sample that BaP concentration exceeded the maximum level according to European Union (EU) standards. Tea samples marketed in Vietnam showed insignificant difference with the samples from other origins by same analytical method. Black teas showed high PAHs contents in dry tea samples but the released percentage of sum of PAHs from tea-to-tea infusion was lower than that in other tea type samples. The released percentages of PAH4 from tea-to-tea infusion were 40.7, 15.4, and 1.9 for green, herbal, and black tea. High temperature in black tea manufacturing processes might reduce essential oil content in tea that might effect on the PAHs partially release into the infusion. Indeed, based on EU regulations, we may conclude that tea consumers are safe in risk of exposure to PAHs obtained from teas.

The Presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Grilled Beef, Chicken and Fish by Considering Dietary Exposure and Risk Assessment

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are dangerous chemical compounds that can be formed by cooking foods at high temperatures. The aim of this study is to determine the level of contamination of PAH compounds with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on heat treated meat samples and the consumption of PAH compounds in meat samples, as well as the dietary exposure status and possible health risk estimation. In five different heat treated meat samples (meat doner, chicken doner, meatballs, grilled chicken, and fish), the total PAH (Σ16PAH) contamination level was 6.08, 4.42, 4.45, 4.91, and 7.26 μg/kg, respectively. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in meatballs and grilled fish samples had a level 0.70 and 0.73 μg/kg. All of the samples analyzed were found to be below the EU permitted limit (5 μg/kg) in terms of BaP. Estimates of daily intake (EDI) for a total of 16PAH in heat treated meat doner, chicken doner, meatballs, grilled chicken and fish samples were 3.41, 3.71, 2.49, 4.12, and 1.77 ng/kg bw/day, respectively. In this study, the average margin of exposure (MOE) value calculated was found in the range of 179.487 and 425.000 for BaP and PAH4. This study is the first study to provide important information in terms of evaluating the possible health risk that PAH compounds can create in people's diets due to heat treatment of meat and meat products in Sivas, Turkey.

Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Heregovački pršut-Traditionally Smoked Prosciutto

Hercegovački pršut as a traditional dry-cured smoked ham (prosciutto) produced by using an open fire that can be potentially contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and can pose a health risk for consumers. The aim of this research was to identify the types and concentrations of 16 PAHs in 34 samples of traditionally smoked prosciutto. Out of 16 investigated PAHs, identified in the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) list of priority pollutants, 14 compounds were detected. Average levels of cancerogenic benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and PAH4 (benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), chrysene (Chry), and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)) ranged from <LOQ (level of quantification) to 5.08 μg/kg and 0.45 μg/kg to 22.67 μg/kg. Two analyzed samples exceeded currently prescribed values according to the Bosnia and Herzegovina legislation for BaP concentrations and one sample for PAH4 content. PAH16 concentrations were on average between 2.92 μg/kg and 87.6 μg/kg. The highest PAH concentrations were found in samples from the Herzegovina-Neretva canton. The results of the research highlight the importance of standardizing smoking procedures and manufacturing practice, in the production of Hercegovački pršut, in order to reduce the PAH content.

Insight about methods used for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons reduction in smoked or grilled fishery and meat products for future re-engineering: A systematic review

This paper presents methods of reduction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in grilled or smoked meat and fishery products. Using keywords such as "smoking", "grilling", "processing", "roasting", "barbecue", "curing", "reduction", "decrease", "polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon", "benzo(a)pyrene", "removal", 1191 references were collected from databases. After sorting, only 37 appeared to be relevant to the topic of the review. These 37 papers were coded with one or two keywords representing methods of PAHs reduction using R-based Qualitative Data Analysis library. The results showed that PAHs reduction strategies can be applied either before (or during) grilling or smoking (barrier methods) or after grilling or smoking (removal methods). Before grilling or smoking, use of marinade, preheating of products, appropriate fuel (poor in lignin), filter, collection system of juice and fat (to avoid them dripping into embers) are the main strategies which can be applied. After grilling or smoking, the methods consist of washing the surface of smoked or grilled products with hot water (60 °C) or storing smoked products packed into low density or high density polyethylene. A flowchart regrouping methods which can be used individually or in combination for PAHs reduction in smoked meat and fishery products is suggested.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in traditionally smoked Slavonska kobasica

The traditional smoking procedure, which is the use of open fire, can lead to the formation of PAHs in sausages. The aim of this paper was to assess the types and concentrations of 16 PAHs in 30 samples of Slavonska kobasica, a traditional smoked sausage. In general, some samples showed high values of anthracene and acenaphthylene. In one sample, acenaphthylene reached the value of 1050 µg/kg and in another 1491 µg/kg anthracene was measured. Cancerogenic benzo(a)pyrene content was little above the maximum limit of 5 µg/kg in four samples, but mainly remained below the limit of quantification. PAH4 (i.c. benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and benzo(a)pyrene) were above the maximum limit of 30 µg/kg in three samples. Generally, it can be noted from the results that samples with high PAH4 and benzo(a)pyrene concentrations also have high PAH16 concentrations.