44G-13 |
Survey of some Brazilian market basket commodities for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons content |
M. C. R. CAMARGO and M. C. F. Toledo. Dept. of Food Science, University of Campinas, Faculty of Food Engineering, PO Box 6121, Campinas, SP, 13081-970, Brazil Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants that are formed during the incomplete combustion of organic matter. The PAHs have received so much attention because many compounds of this group are potent carcinogens in experimental animals. Food is a significant source of the PAHs to which humans are exposed. The presence of PAHs in foods originates predominantly from environmental pollution, food packaging and food processing, such as smoke curing and charcoal broiling. In order to identify foods that are the major contributors to the intake of these contaminants by the Brazilian population, foods representative of various commodity groups including dairy products, cereals, flours and pasta, bakery products, smoked meat and sugar were analysed for ten PAHs: fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(e)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(ah)anthracene and benzo(ghi)perylene. The analytical methodology involved liquid-liquid extraction, clean-up on silica gel column and determination by high performance liquid chromatography using fluorescence detector. PAHs peak identity was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (CG-MS). The most frequently occurring PAHs were benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene and benzo(b)fluoranthene, which were found in 81.8, 72.7 and 68.1 % of the samples, respectively. The level of total PAH determined in the analyzed products ranged from <0.07 to 15.44 mg/kg. Sugar showed the highest mean total PAH concentration followed by smoked meat (5.68 mg/kg). This study shows the presence of PAHs in commodity groups that are reperesentative of the Brazilian diet, at levels within the range reported in literature for similar products. These data will be used to further estimate the dietary exposure of Brazilians to PAHs and assess any potential risk associated with the ingestion of these foods.
Session 44G, Toxicology & Safety Evaluation
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