Concentrations, influencing factors, risk assessment methods, health hazards and analyses of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dairies: a review

Abstract

The occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in dairies has been widely reported. Consumers may be overly exposed to PAHs through dairies causing health risks. Hazards can be reduced by controlling influencing factors in the full-chain of dairy production. This review briefly introduces research trends and analytical methods concerning PAHs in dairies. Additionally, this review discusses influencing factors of PAH concentrations in various dairies to avoid PAHs’ formation and accumulation during manufacture. Relevant regulations are referred to and the reported risk assessment methods are summarized. Furthermore, indicators of health risks including TEQ_BaP, the number and the rate of over-standard are calculated based on PAH concentrations. Through analyses, we find PAH and BaP contamination in dairies are complex problems depending on environment, processing and storage. There was a significant correlation between fat contents and PAH concentrations. Results of infant formula in certain research were worrying and those of smoked cheeses are remarkably high indicating the dangerous smoking process. It is significant to monitor PAHs and calculate TEQ_BaP from meadows to feeders. Moreover, the existing regulations are insufficient and need strengthening. The data and discussions in this review contribute to worldwide Big Data, further scientific investigation and regulations for PAHs in dairies.

Keywords:

• Benzo[a]pyrene
• butter
• milk
• PAH4
• sterilization
• yogurt

Declarations of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, China (No. 19391902500), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 32061160476 and 31972036).

Notes on contributors

Yuxing Ge

Yuxing Ge: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Writing-original draft; Shimin Wu: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing-review & editing; Kai Yan: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology.

Shimin Wu

Yuxing Ge: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Writing-original draft; Shimin Wu: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing-review & editing; Kai Yan: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology.

Kai Yan

Yuxing Ge: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Writing-original draft; Shimin Wu: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing-review & editing; Kai Yan: Data curation, Investigation, Methodology.