The Occurrence of Carcinogenic Polycyclic Hydrocarbons in Foodstuffs in Hungary

Abstract

The quantity of plycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Hungarian foods and consumer goods were measured in more than 300 samples of food and other consumables. In more than 60% of the samples, pyrene, fluoranthene, benz(a)anthracene and benzo(g,h,i)perylene were detectable besides the highly carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). Investigational results and consumption data show that the average per man-year BaP intake with food in Hungary is 300–600 μg.