GC-MS determination of the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in bread and potato Tahdig prepared with the common edible oil

Nectarine core-derived magnetite biochar for ultrasound-assisted preconcentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tomato paste: A cost-effective and sustainable approach

A novel ultrasound-assisted magnetic solid-phase extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (US-MSPE-GC/MS) was developed to detect trace amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tomato paste, using a magnetic biochar adsorbent derived from nectarine cores. The highest extraction recovery was attained under 10 mg adsorbent mass, 30 min extraction time, 9 % (w/v) sodium chloride, and elution with 200 μL of dichloromethane. Under optimum conditions, the method demonstrated excellent linearity (R2 > 0.992) across a wide concentration range (0.01-100 ng g-1) with high sensitivity (LODs: 0.028-0.053 ng g-1, LOQs: 0.094-0.176 ng g-1) and good repeatability (RSDs <5.96 %). The application of the US-MSPE-GC/MS method was tested on four brands of real tomato paste and no PAHs were detected in unspiked samples, indicating no background contamination. This method showed high relative recoveries 88.03-98.52 %) and good reproducibility (<9.19 %.) at two concentration levels, confirming its effectiveness for PAH analysis in real samples.

Benzo (a) pyrene in infant foods: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and health risk assessment

Exposure of infants to chemicals during their development will have major effects on their health. One of the major exposures of infants to chemicals is through their food. The main structure of infant food is milk, which is high in fat. There is a possibility of accumulation of environmental pollution, including benzo (a) pyrene (BaP). In this systematic review, the amount of BaP in infant milk was surveyed for this purpose. The chosen keywords were: benzo (a) pyrene, BaP, Infant formula, dried milk, powdered milk, and baby food. A total of 46 manuscripts were found in the scientific database. After initial screening and quality assessment, 12 articles were selected for extraction of data. By meta-analysis, the total estimate of BaP in baby food was calculated to be 0.078 ± 0.006 μg/kg. Estimation of daily intake (EDI) and Hazard Quotient (HQ) for noncarcinogenic risk and Margin of exposure (MOE) for carcinogenic risk were also calculated for three age groups 0-6 months, 6-12 months, and 1-3 years. HQ was lower than 1 and MOE was more than 10,000 for three age groups. Therefore, there is no potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk for infant health.

Concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in bread and health risk assessment across the globe: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Although bread is the principal food in most countries, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may be present and pose a potential risk to consumers. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive report on the concentration and health risks associated with PAHs in bread around the world. Various databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar, were searched from their beginnings until December 2023 for this systematic review, which included 34 potentially relevant articles with data relating to 1057 bread samples. Utilizing a multilevel regression modeling approach, the study evaluated various factors such as fuel type, bread type, and geographical location. Following the initial evaluation, in 26.47% and 20.28% of all studies, the levels of Bap and PAH4 were higher than the permissible limit values, respectively. Based on the isomer ratios, 55.88% of the studies associated the presence of PAHs in bread samples with pyrogenic/coal combustion sources. According to the carcinogenic risk results, bread consumers in all studies have been exposed to moderate or high levels of carcinogenicity. The most significant risk levels are associated with the consumption of bread in Egypt, Kuwait, Iran, and India. Moreover, meta-regression analysis demonstrated significantly higher toxicity equivalent quotient and cancer risk mean values in bread baked using fossil fuels compared to other sources (p < .05). The high concentrations of PAHs, especially Benzo[a]pyrene, in bread pose a serious public health risk. Stringent regulations and monitoring are crucial to reduce contamination. Further research is necessary to develop safe processing methods to remove PAHs in bread.

Employing a magnetic chitosan/molybdenum disulfide nanocomposite for efficiently removing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from milk samples

This study aimed to develop a highly efficient nanocomposite composed of magnetic chitosan/molybdenum disulfide (CS/MoS2/Fe3O4) for the removal of three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-pyrene, anthracene, and phenanthrene. Novelty was introduced through the innovative synthesis procedure and the utilization of magnetic properties for enhanced adsorption capabilities. Additionally, the greenness of chitosan as a sorbent component was emphasized, highlighting its biodegradability and low environmental impact compared to traditional sorbents. Factors influencing PAH adsorption, such as nanocomposite dosage, initial PAH concentration, pH, and contact time, were systematically investigated and optimized. The results revealed that optimal removal efficiencies were attained at an initial PAH concentration of 150 mg/L, a sorbent dose of 0.045 g, pH 6.0, and a contact time of 150 min. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model exhibited superior fitting to the experimental data, indicating an equilibrium time of approximately 150 min. Moreover, the equilibrium adsorption process followed the Freundlich isotherm model, with kf and n values exceeding 7.91 mg/g and 1.20, respectively. Remarkably, the maximum absorption capacities for phenanthrene, anthracene, and pyrene on the sorbent were determined as 217 mg/g, 204 mg/g, and 222 mg/g, respectively. These findings underscore the significant potential of the CS/MoS2/Fe3O4 nanocomposite for efficiently removing PAHs from milk and other dairy products, thereby contributing to improved food safety and public health.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons' Impact on Crops and Occurrence, Sources, and Detection Methods in Food: A Review

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent a category of persistent organic pollutants that pose a global concern in the realm of food safety due to their recognized carcinogenic properties in humans. Food can be contaminated with PAHs that are present in water, air, or soil, or during food processing and cooking. The wide and varied sources of PAHs contribute to their persistent contamination of food, leading to their accumulation within these products. As a result, monitoring of the levels of PAHs in food is necessary to guarantee the safety of food products as well as the public health. This review paper attempts to give its readers an overview of the impact of PAHs on crops, their occurrence and sources, and the methodologies employed for the sample preparation and detection of PAHs in food. In addition, possible directions for future research are proposed. The objective is to provide references for the monitoring, prevention, and in-depth exploration of PAHs in food.

The carcinogenic PAHs in breads, amount, analytical method and mitigation strategy, a systematic review study

Bread is one of the most consumed foods all over the world. Several contaminants are identified in bread. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is one of these contaminants. This systematic study evaluates the amount of four carcinogenic PAHs (PAH4) in various types of breads. To conduct this study, a comprehensive search was carried out using keywords of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, PAH4, and bread, with no time limitations. 17 articles were selected and fully evaluated. The observed range of PAH4 concentrations in bread varied from non-detected (ND) to 20.66 µg/kg. In the sample preparation process for analysis, an ultrasonic bath was predominantly utilized. Most chromatographic methods are able to measure PAHs in food, but the GC-MS method has been used more. To mitigate PAH levels in bread, it is suggested to incorporate antioxidants during the bread-making process. Furthermore, the type of bread, the type of fuel used to bake the bread, the temperature and the cooking time were some of the factors affecting the amount of PAH. Restricting these factors could significantly reduce PAH content. Regarding the risk assessment conducted in the manuscript, it was determined that industrial breads are usually considered safe. However, some traditional breads may pose risks in terms of their potential PAH content.

Early Identification of Rotten Potatoes Using an Electronic Nose Based on Feature Discretization and Ensemble Convolutional Neural Network

The early identification of rotten potatoes is one of the most important challenges in a storage facility because of the inconspicuous symptoms of rot, the high density of storage, and environmental factors (such as temperature, humidity, and ambient gases). An electronic nose system based on an ensemble convolutional neural network (ECNN, a powerful feature extraction method) was developed to detect potatoes with different degrees of rot. Three types of potatoes were detected: normal samples, slightly rotten samples, and totally rotten samples. A feature discretization method was proposed to optimize the impact of ambient gases on electronic nose signals by eliminating redundant information from the features. The ECNN based on original features presented good results for the prediction of rotten potatoes in both laboratory and storage environments, and the accuracy of the prediction results was 94.70% and 90.76%, respectively. Moreover, the application of the feature discretization method significantly improved the prediction results, and the accuracy of prediction results improved by 1.59% and 3.73%, respectively. Above all, the electronic nose system performed well in the identification of three types of potatoes by using the ECNN, and the proposed feature discretization method was helpful in reducing the interference of ambient gases.

The effect of flavorings on PAHs level in the roasted sunflower seeds

The amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be reduced by food additives. In this study, the impact of various flavors was investigated on the formation of PAHs in roasted sunflower seeds. PAHs was measured in the shell and kernel of sunflower with the flavors of lemon, golpar (hogweed), salt, ketchup and raw sunflower. Measuring the amount of PAHs was analyzed by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). PAHs with low molecular weight were detected. The total of PAHs of sunflower seeds were in the range of 0.4-3.2 mg kg-1. The lowest amount was related to the hogweed kernel, and the highest amount was related to the lemon. High molecular weight PAHs were not detected because the temperature did not rise above 100 °C during roasting. Some flavors, such as hogweed can reduce the amount of PAHs because of their antioxidant properties. On the contrary, the PAHs level with lemon juice was higher than other flavors.

Measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible oils and potential health risk to consumers using Monte Carlo simulation, southwest Iran

Persistent organic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are hazardous trace contaminants frequently observed in food ingredients, such as edible oils. This study aimed to measure PAHs in forty brands of edible oils marketed in southwest Iran. Additionally, we characterized the daily intake of MOE and ILCR using Monte Carlo simulation. To analyze the content of PAHs, the liquid-liquid extraction method followed by GC-MS was utilized. The average concentration of PAHs was mostly lower than the maximum value for individual PAH (2 μg/Kg); however, the average concentration of fluorene (3.86 μg/Kg) and benzo(a)anthracene (3.13 μg/Kg) was more than the permitted level. The highest residual concentrations of PAHs were mostly observed in canola and corn oils. The daily intake of BaP and 4-PAH for 95% of consumers was 0.01 ng/kg BW/day and 0.04 ng/kg BW/day, respectively. Also, MOE was more than 10,000 for the percentiles of 5%, 50%, and 95%. The modeled ILCR showed that consumption of oil does not currently pose a cancer risk for Iranian consumers due to PAHs exposure. Concerning potential health risks, consumption of edible oils is safe; however, regular monitoring and assessment are required.