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Abstract
Analysis of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in charbroiled hamburgers, used in an earlier study of BaP-DNA adducts in peripheral white blood cells, has been accomplished using HPLC with UV diode array detection. The concentration data for one of these PAH, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), are in excellent agreement with data obtained using a thin-layer chromatography (TLC)/fluorescence technique. There is significant interest in pyrene/BaP ratios in these samples and other sources of human exposure to PAH since urinary metabolites of both compounds have been used as biomarkers of exposure. In the food samples examined, this ratio is roughly 5. However, differences in cooking procedures between different studies suggest that this value can only be used semi-quantitatively. The BaP concentrations themselves vary by a factor of almost twenty in hamburgers prepared under very similar conditions. Some unstable PAH, including cyclopenteno[cd]pyrene and methylated PAH are found in the hamburger. This possibly reflects their decreased reactivity under conditions different from those which prevail in the outdoor atmosphere.