Assessment of the dietary habits and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in primary school children

Age- and sex-specific dermal exposure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the general population of a city in south China

This study assessed the dermal exposure of population to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a South China city. Skin wipe samples of the face, hand, forearm, and shank were collected from 120 volunteers (50% male and 50% female) belonging to different age groups (preschooler, thresholder, middle-aged, and elderly). Concentrations of PAHs in the skin wipe samples varied from 18 to 27000 ng/m² in the order of face > hand > forearm > shank, regardless of age and gender. The PAH concentrations of bare skin locations were significantly higher in females than in males, while no significant differences were observed for clothing-covered skin locations between genders. The PAH concentrations for faces were significantly higher in the elderly compared to the other groups. The PAH composition was distinct between the four age groups. The dermal exposure levels of total PAHs and total BaP equivalent concentration (BaP_eq) varied from 25.6 to 620 and 0.093-37.4 ng/kg body weight/d, respectively. The dermal exposure levels of total PAHs were significantly higher in females than in males in all age groups except for the middle-aged group. The hand-mouth exposure doses were significantly higher in the preschoolers than in the other age groups. The values of the carcinogenic risk caused by dermal PAH exposure were between 3.5 × 10^-6 and 1.4 × 10^-3 with 29% of the population (35/120) having risk values exceeding significant levels (1 × 10^-4). The thresholder group exhibited the highest risk for PAH dermal exposure among all groups of the population. This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the age- and gender-related risk of PAH through dermal exposure.

The concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the processed meat samples collected from Iran's market: a probabilistic health risk assessment study

The concentration of PAHs among raw and cooked meat products (sausages and burgers), randomly collected from five regions of Tehran, Iran, was investigated by the aid of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the risk assessment was conducted. The concentration of 16 types of PAHs in sausage and burger samples was found in the range of 8.08 to 29.55 and 10.18 to 29.85 μg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of some PAHs such as anthracene (A) (14.12 μg/kg) and acenaphthylene (Acl) (13.4 μg/kg) were higher than the European Standard (2 μg/kg). Among the meat products with different meat percentages (50, 70, and 90), the highest level of total PAHs was noted in the product containing 90% meat (19.34 μg/kg), while the highest mean level of PAHs was noted in fried meat products (23.31 μg/kg). A positive and significant correlation between cooking method and brand of product with the concentration of PAHs (p-value < 0.05) was noted. Also, no concern regarding the non-carcinogenic risk due to the ingestion of PAHs via consumption of the meat products was demonstrated by the health risk. However, the carcinogenic risk due to the consumption of sausage and burger was at the tolerable (1E-6 to 1E-4) and considerable (> 1E-4) risk levels, respectively. In this regard, further assessments to control and modify the cooking method among the Iranian population were recommended.

Occurrence, dietary exposure, and health risk estimation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in grilled and fried meats in Shandong of China

There is a lack of information regarding the quantitative determination and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in grilled and fried meat products in Shandong Province of China. The aim of this work was firstly to detect the contamination levels of 15 PAHs in 52 grilled and fried meats consumed by the population of Shandong Province, China. In brief, concentrations of the sum of 15 PAHs in individual samples were ranged from 8.23 to 341 μg/kg with a mean contamination level of 63.3 μg/kg. Moreover, the factors for the formation of PAHs in these samples have been identified and analyzed. One grilled meat sample exceeded the maximum limits of 2 and 12 μg/kg set for BaP and PAH4 by the European Union. For a further step, the mean dietary exposures for total PAHs from grilled and fried meat products were estimated to be 120 and 74.8 ng/kg bw/day, respectively. Finally, the health risk estimation was performed using the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) approach. The obtained values of four groups were all lower than 10-4, indicating a slight potential carcinogenic risk of consumer health. This study was the first attempt to provide baseline information of potential health risk of dietary exposure of PAH-containing grilled and fried meats, which could be useful for health management of the local consumers.

Probabilistic estimates of heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons concentrations in meats and breads applicable to exposure assessments

Random effect meta-regressions were constructed to estimate concentrations of two heterocyclic amines (HCA) and eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in meat and breads. Eighteen HCA studies and nine PAH studies of food concentration were assembled. Concentration was computed for beef, poultry, pork, and seafood, and bread. Fixed effect predictors included cooking time, form of the food, cooking method, interaction between form and cooking method, temperature at which the food was cooked, fuel of the flame source, percentage of fat, and other elements. Meat type was significant to all HCAs but only three of the PAHs. Cooking method or an interaction between cooking method and food form was significant in all the overall models for each compound, and 80% of models created for stratifications of the data based on meat type. Improvement on compilations such as the Computerized Heterocyclic Amines Resource for Research in Epidemiology of Disease (CHARRED) database comes from inclusion of additional studies, PAH compounds, more generalizable food categories, more cooking methods (such as smoking), and addition of seafood. Meta-regression allows parameters to be estimated with separation of between-study heterogeneity, and extrapolation of exposures to more foods. Resulting uncertainty estimates are useful in a probabilistic exposure assessment.

Mechanisms Linking Colorectal Cancer to the Consumption of (Processed) Red Meat: A Review

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world. The vast majority of CRC cases have been linked to environmental causes rather than to heritable genetic changes. Over the last decades, epidemiological evidence linking the consumption of red and, more convincingly, of processed red meat to CRC has accumulated. In parallel, hypotheses on carcinogenic mechanisms underlying an association between CRC and the intake of red and processed red meat have been proposed and investigated in biological studies. The hypotheses that have received most attention until now include (1) the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic aromatic amines, two groups of compounds recognized as carcinogenic, (2) the enhancing effect of (nitrosyl)heme on the formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds and lipid peroxidation. However, none of these hypotheses completely explains the link between red and processed red meat intake and the CRC risk. Consequently, scientists have proposed additional mechanisms or refined their hypotheses. This review first briefly summarizes the development of CRC followed by an in-depth overview and critical discussion of the different potential carcinogenic mechanisms underlying the increased CRC risk associated with the consumption of red and processed red meat.

Detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in smoked buffalo mozzarella cheese produced in Campania Region, Italy

BACKGROUND

Smoked mozzarella is obtained through traditional smoking techniques or the use of liquid smoke. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may be produced during the organic matrix combustion. The aim of this study was to evaluate benzo[a]pyrene (B(a)P), benzo[a]anthracene (B(a)A), benzo[b]fluoranthene (B(b)FA), benzo[k]fluoranthene (B(k)FA), benzo[ghi]perylene (B(g,h,i)PE), chrysene (CHR), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DB(a,h)A) and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IP) in smoked buffalo mozzarella produced in Campania, evaluating also the influence of the different smoking techniques. Milk and mozzarella of the same batch, before and after smoking, were collected. The detection method was basic hydrolysis, clean-up with silica and detection by HPLC equipped with a fluorescence detector.

RESULTS

For milk, only 30% was contaminated. In non-smoked products the medians were >LODs only for B(a)A and CHR. In smoked mozzarellas the highest median was 0.37 ng g(-1) wet weight (CHR).

CONCLUSION

It was found that the consumption of this typical food of Campania does not represent a risk for consumers, considering that the incidences on EFSA dietary intake were always lower than 1.5% for mozzarella cheese and lower than 3% for smoked mozzarella cheese.

Human dietary exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: A review of the scientific literature

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of over 200 different organic compounds that are mainly formed as the result of pyrolytic processes. For the general population, a number of studies have shown that, as for other environmental organic contaminants, the major route of exposure to PAHs is through food consumption. In this paper, the scientific literature concerning the concentrations of PAHs in food and the human dietary intake of these compounds, is reviewed. Unexpectedly, we have detected a considerable lack of scientific papers for countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, or Japan, among many others, which seems rather unusual given the important scientific and social interest on the knowledge of the health risks of human exposure to environmental pollutants. The data from countries for which the human dietary intake of PAHs is available, show important differences among them, which would be explained by a number of factors, being probably the most important, the different methodologies used in the respective surveys. Regarding the influence of cooking on the levels of PAHs in foodstuffs, and the consequent intake, we conclude that it depends, not only on the particular cooking process, but even more on the specific characteristics of the respective food items.

Human exposure to parent and halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons via food consumption in Shenzhen, China

Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and halogenated PAHs (HPAHs) via food consumption is still not clear in south China so far. The goals of this work are to assess human exposure to parent and halogenated PAHs via food ingestion and the cancer risk for population in Shenzhen, a new urban center in south China. Sixteen PAHs and nine HPAHs were determined in vegetable, pork and rice samples collected from Shenzhen. In general, the population in Shenzhen was exposed to higher levels of PAHs via food ingestion in comparison to that reported for other countries in recent years, but lower than that estimated for two northern cities in China. The cancer risk values induced by exposure to PAHs and HPAHs for male and female on each subgroup were between the serious risk level (10(-4)) and the acceptable risk level (10(-6)). Children faced the highest cancer risk, followed by adolescents, seniors and adults.

Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using data from a duplicate diet study in Catalonia, Spain

In this study, the dietary intake of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by the population of Tarragona County (Catalonia, Spain) was assessed using the duplicate diet approach. Duplicate diet samples, prepared as per consumption, were collected during September 2010 in various restaurants offering a variety of daily menus (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). For analysis of PAHs, a total of 90 composite samples were prepared. Analytical procedure of PAHs was performed by means of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Intake calculations were made for the standard male adult population. The highest intakes corresponded to acenaphthylene (12.7 μg/day), acenaphthene (12.4 μg/day), and fluorene (11.9 μg/day), while the lowest intake corresponded to dibenz[a,h]anthracene (0.12 μg/day), being also comparatively low those of pyrene, benzo[b]fluoranthene+benzo[j]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[ghi]perylene (0.13 μg/day in all cases). The results were compared with data from previous total diet studies (TDS) recently performed in the same geographical area. In the present study, the estimated mean dietary intake for a standard male adult living in Catalonia was 59.2 μg/day, a value notably higher than that found in our recent TDS (6.72 μg/day). However, it is essential to remark that important methodological differences exist between both surveys, reflecting that calculation methods should be similar when the purpose is to compare results from different surveys. In general terms, we conclude that for PAHs, duplicate diet studies may be a good alternative to total diet studies, especially when there are important economical limitations to perform a suitable TDS. The costs associated to the former may be notably lower, as they do not require such an extensive number of samples for chemical analysis. Moreover, a duplicate diet approach may even be more realistic, as cooked foodstuffs are used for dietary exposure assessment.