Effect of charcoal grilling on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): content, composition, and health risk in edible fish in Japan

Abstract

The content and composition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) induced by charcoal grilling of fish were determined in this study. Using HPLC–DAD, the simultaneously quantitative method for 16 priority PAHs was developed and applied to three common Japanese fish: mackerel, pacific saury, and sardine. Charcoal grilling largely increased the content of both total and representative PAHs. Moreover, all of the three fish showed a similar PAH composition under the effect of charcoal grilling: in raw samples, naphthalene was observed as the dominant PAH, while in charcoal-grilled samples, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene served as the major PAHs. Furthermore, a health risk assessment showed that charcoal grilling resulted in high levels of the toxic equivalence quotients, the daily dietary intake exposure to PAHs, and the incremental lifetime cancer risk in three fish, which outclassed the raw samples and exceeded the recommended limitations. The results suggested that charcoal grilling-induced accumulation of PAHs and their potential health risk on human health should be of great concern, which might contribute to the dietary guidance and risk management of food-contained PAHs. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].