Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in commercial breads in Malaysia and health risk assessment: article

Certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are listed as potentially carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency of Research on Cancer (IARC). In this study, the concentration of 4 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) namely fluorine, chrysene, benzo[a]pyrene, and pyrene in 3 commercial bread samples from 3 different types of bread were examined. The analysis was performed by highperformance liquid chromatography with fluorescent detector (HPLC-FLD) after Soxhlet extraction and clean-up of the extract. The concentration of several PAHs was detected in 18 out of 27 samples. In general, the mean of PAHs concentration was found on pyrene (2.38 µg/kg) followed by B[a]P (1.47 µg/kg), chrysene (1.31 µg/kg), and fluorine (1.31 µg/kg). The mean concentration in 3 out of 6 samples indicate the B[a]P reading more than 1 µg/kg and not complied with the European Union standard for bread. There is a significant difference in PAHs concentration between the bread types in all of the PAHs. Meanwhile, only fluorine is significant compared to chrysene, B[a]P, and pyrene between the brands. The health risk assessment of PAHs was carried out using the chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotient (HQ), and lifetime cancer risk (LCR). The calculation revealed that HQ values were less than 1.0. However, the calculation of the LCR has indicated the relatively high level of B[a]P with above 10 - 6 for men, women, and children. This high level indicates that there is a high probability of cancer risk from the consumption of bread. Thus, the routine monitoring for the PAHs concentration in the commercial breads should be implemented.