Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in wood smoke used for production of traditional smoked meat products in Serbia

Abstract

During smoking of meat products polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generated by incomplete combustion of wood. About 660 different compounds belong to the PAH group. Some of them are contaminants of great environmental concern due to their toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic properties. In this study, PAHs from smoke produced by beech wood combustion in two traditional meat smokehouses (SHs), from Zlatibor region, Serbia, were collected during the smoking process using two types of tubes (PUF and XAD-2). The following 16 EU priority PAHs were analysed by Fast-GC/HRMS: Benzo[c]fluorene (BcL), benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), cyclopenta[c,d] pyrene (CPP), chrysene (CHR), 5-methylchrysene (5MC), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), benzo[ j]fluoranthene (BjF), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), benzo[g,h,i] perylene (BgP), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DhA), indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IcP), dibenzo[a,e] pyrene (DeP), dibenzo[a,h]pyrene (DhP), dibenzo[a,i]pyrene (DiP) and dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DlP). Smoke was collected in the middle of the smokehouses at a height of 2 m (SH I) and 5 m (SH II) distant from firebox. Results show a great variability in PAH concentrations. Total emission of 16 EU priority PAHs was 6.7 ± 6.8 mg m-3 and 7.4 ± 6.0 mg m-3, in PUF and XAD- 2 tubes, respectively, in the SH I. At a height of 5 m (SH II), PAH emission was 2.4 ± 0.8 mg m-3 and 4.3 ± 0.7 mg m-3, in PUF and XAD-2 tubes, respectively. The patterns of the 16 EU priority PAHs in wood smoke were compared with PAH patterns in smoked meat products (beef ham, pork ham, cajna sausage and sremska sausage). Meat products were logically smoked in the smokehouses where smoke samples were collected during the smoking procedure. PAH fingerprints showed that BcL was the most predominant PAH, both in smoke and smoked meat products. For all PAHs, except for dibenzopyrenes (DeP, DhP, DiP and DlP), there is a very similar fingerprint in smoke and smoked meat products.