Levels and Health Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Protein Foods from Lagos and Abeokuta, Southwestern Nigeria

Publication date: Available online 6 March 2019Source: Journal of Food Composition and AnalysisAuthor(s): A.M. Taiwo, E.C. Ihedioha, C.S. Nwosu, A. Oyelakin, P. Efubesi, J. Shitta, T.O. OsinubiAbstractThe present study assessed levels and health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in protein foods collected from selected locations in Lagos and Abeokuta, Southwestern Nigeria. Forty eight protein food samples (meat, cowskin, fish and crayfish) were collected between July and September, 2018 and subjected to chemical analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using standard method. Data collected were subjected to simple descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation using SPSS for Windows (22.0). The health risk assessment was evaluated for average daily dose (ADD), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI) and cancer risk (CR) using the United States Environmental Protection Agency model. Results revealed higher concentrations of ∑PAHs in protein food samples from Abeokuta than those from Lagos (except smoked cowskin). Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (96.817 ± 65.922 mg kg-1) was the highest PAH congener measured in protein foodstuffs (raw fish samples from Abeokuta). The ∑CR values of PAHs in Abeokuta fish (smoked) and crayfish (raw and smoked) samples were higher than the priority risk level of 1.0 × 10-4 indicating possible risk of developing cancer through consumption of protein foodstuffs.Graphical abstract
Source: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis - Category: Food Science Source Type: research