Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in grilled meat and fish products and its potential health risk: article

The study highlights the investigation of the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in grilled meat and fish products. Specifically, the levels of benzo(a)pyrene, fluorine, pyrene and chrysene were determined for 30 samples of chicken satay, beef satay and grilled fish. The method was based on a Soxhlet extraction step, followed by solid phase extraction (SPE) clean-up and finally, the determination of PAHs using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detector. The highest concentration of the total three studied PAHs compounds was 35.43 μg/kg found in chicken satay, while the intermediate concentration was 16.52 μg/kg in grilled fish and the lowest was 21.02 μg/kg in beef satay. The result shows that no significant difference (p>0.05) in the concentration of PAHs between stalls. In addition, there were significant differences (p<0.05) in the concentration of benzo(a)pyrene, fluorine and pyrene among chicken satay, beef satay and grilled fish. Finally, Hazard quotient (HQ) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) approaches were used to estimate health risk. The HQ and ILCR calculations showed no non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk, respectively, towards Malaysian population who consumed chicken satay, beef satay and grilled fish.