Dietary exposure and cancer risk assessment of the Pakistani population exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract

The sixteen-priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in twenty-one groceries from six food groups consumed by the Pakistani population. The highest concentration of the total PAHs was found in fish (243 ng g−1), while the lowest concentration was determined in rice (53 ng g−1). The total B[a]Peq dietary exposure for the male group followed an increasing order of children (865.5 ng day−1) < adolescents (2301 ng day−1) < seniors (2864 ng day−1) < adults (3004 ng day−1), whereas the similar order was also observed for the female group. The male group showed 1–8.5% (mean 5.5%) of higher exposure amount compared to the female group. Among all food categories, wheat (43%) and milk (34%) contributed the greatest while rice (1%) and egg (1%) contributed the smallest to the total dietary exposure of PAHs. The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) values for the adults and children revealed a potential cancer risk to the both male and female groups. Whereas at the 95th percentiles, the ILCR values for all age and gender groups exceeded the limit (>10−5), demonstrating a high potential cancer risk in the Pakistani population. The sensitivity analysis found that the daily dietary intake, exposure duration and the cancer slope factor were the most influential variables contributed to the total variance of risk.