Effect of Native American fish smoking methods on dietary exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and possible risks to human health

Abstract

Although it is known that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be found in smoked meats, little is known about their prevalence in Native American smoked fish. In this work, the effect of traditional Native American fish smoking methods on dietary exposure to PAHs and possible risks to human health has been assessed. Smoking methods considered smoking structure (tipi or shed) and wood type (apple or alder). Neither smoking structure nor wood type accounted for differences in smoked salmon content of 33 PAHs. Carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic PAH loads in traditionally smoked salmon were 40-430 times higher than those measured in commercial products. Dietary exposure to PAHs could result in excess lifetime cancer risks between 1 × 10(-5) and 1 × 10(-4) at a daily consumption rate of 5 g d(-1) and could approach 1 × 10(-2) at 300 g d(-1). Hazard indexes approached 0.005 at 5 g d(-1), or approximately 0.3 at 300 g d(-1). Levels of PAHs present in smoked salmon prepared using traditional Native American methods may pose elevated cancer risks if consumed at high consumption rates over many years.

Figure 1

CTUIR shed and tipi smoking structures (A, D), salmon placement (B, E), and wood orientation (C, F) used for traditional salmon smoking.

Figure 2

Levels and profiles (mean ± SD) of non-carcinogenic (A-D) and carcinogenic (E-H) PAHs measured in salmon smoked by traditional Native American methods: tipi using apple wood (A, E), tipi using alder wood (B, F), shed using apple wood (C, G), and shed using alder wood (D, H). Individual effects (structure, wood) were dependent on each other and were not interpreted as significant (two-way ANOVA, interaction p-value < 0.001). ‘X’ indicates that an analyte was below method reporting limits.

Figure 3

PAH abundance (mean ± SD) grouped by number of PAH rings expressed as (A) concentration and (B) proportion of total for salmon smoked by traditional Native American methods.

Figure 4

Summed levels of PAHs (mean ± SD) measured in salmon smoked by four traditional Native American methods, non-smoked wild caught salmon and three different commercially available smoked salmon (CTUIR smoked salmon, n = 10/smoking method; non-smoked salmon, n = 20; commercial smoked salmon, n = 5 replicate analyses/sample).