Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in meat, poultry, fish and related product samples of Iran: a risk assessment study

Fariba Khalili; Nabi Shariatifar; Mohammad Hadi Dehghani; Kamyar Yaghmaeian; Ramin Nabizadeh Nodehi; Mehdi Yaseri; Mojtaba Moazzen

doi:10.1007/s40201-023-00854-1

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in meat, poultry, fish and related product samples of Iran: a risk assessment study

J Environ Health Sci Eng. 2023 Feb 23;21(1):215-224. doi: 10.1007/s40201-023-00854-1. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Fariba Khalili¹, Nabi Shariatifar¹, Mohammad Hadi Dehghani¹, Kamyar Yaghmaeian¹, Ramin Nabizadeh Nodehi¹, Mehdi Yaseri², Mojtaba Moazzen³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Department of Food Technology Research, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Meat, poultry, and seafood such as fish are a valuable source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Considering their high consumption in the human diet, it is necessary to study pollutants (such as PAHs) in them. This present study has focused on the PAHs level and probabilistic risk of health in meat, poultry, fish and related product samples by MSPE-GC/MS technique (magnetic solid-phase extraction with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). The maximum mean of 16 PAH was detected in smoked fish samples (222.7 ± 13.2 μg/kg) and the minimum mean of 16 PAH was detected in chicken (juje) kebab (112.9 ± 7.2 µg/kg μg/kg). The maximum mean of 4PAHs was detected in tuna fish (23.7 ± 2.4 µg/kg) and the minimum mean of 4PAHs was seen in grilled chicken and sausage samples (non-detected). Our results showed the 4PAHs and B[a]P were lower than the EU (European Union) standard levels (these standard levels were 30 and 5 μg/kg, respectively). Furthermore, the correlation among the type and concentrations of PAHs congeners was investigated through cluster analysis by heat map and principal component analysis. The 90^th percentile ILCR (incremental lifetime cancer risk) of PAH compounds in fish, poultry, meat and related products samples was 3.39E-06, which was lower than the maximum acceptable level of risk (10^-4). Finally, the highest ILCR was related to hamburger (4.45E-06). Therefore, there is no risk in consuming these foods in Iran, but it is necessary to monitor PAHs concentration in different types of foods.

Keywords: Fish; Health risk assessment; MSPE/GC–MS; Meat; Meat products; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); Poultry.

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.