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.