The Occurrence of 16 EPA PAHs in Food – A Review

Occurrence and toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been extensively studied in countries all over the world. PAHs generally occur in complex mixtures which may consist of hundreds of compounds. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed in the 1970 to monitor a set of 16 PAHs which are frequently found in environmental samples. This article reviews the suitability of the 16 EPA PAHs for the assessment of potential health threats to humans stemming from the exposure to PAHs by food ingestion. It presents details on analysis methods, the occurrence of PAHs in food, regulatory aspects, and related risk management approaches. In addition, consideration is given to newer evaluations of the toxicity of PAHs and the requirements for risk assessment and management stemming from them.