Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) on Smoked Fish and Suya Meat Consumed in Warri, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate some ubiquitous group of environmentally persistent organic compound of varied toxicity. This study investigated grilled meat samples popularly called “suya†and species of smoked catfish samples were purchase from an open market in the “Effurunâ€, “Igbuduâ€, “Jugbaleâ€, “Olomoroâ€, “Oleh†and the “Ozoro market†all located at the Niger Delta region of Delta State. Dual samples were made from the purchased items and a part were soaked in boiled water for ten minutes. The soaked samples was sun dried in the laboratory. The samples were analyzed for sixteen Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons content namely Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Benz(a)antracene, Chrysene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Dibenz(a,h)antracene, Indeno (1, 2, 3 - c, pyrene, Benzo (g,h,i) perylene. Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometric analysis was performed on a Thermo Scientific TRACE GC ultra - system. Results from this study revealed that the highest mean levels of the individual PAHs were observed in samples of smoked fish with Phenanthrene, Naphthalene, Fluorene, Fluoranthene and Pyrene concentration of 16.22 ± 1.10 µg/kg, 9.42 ± 0.14 µg/kg, 4.46 ± 0.10 µg/kg, 2.14 ± 0.06 µg/kg and 1.14 ± 0.02 µg/kg for the smoked fish species and 5.23 ± 0.09 µg/kg, 4.89 ± 0.09 µg/kg, 1.18 ± 0.03 µg/kg, 0.57 ± 0.05 µg/kg, and 0.07 ± 0.02 µg/kg for the smoked fish soaked in hot water. The results further reveals that the PAHs values for grilled meat/smoked fish are far higher than those obtained with those soaked in boiled water. Hence, it is recommended that consumers of these food produce should be educated on a modern technique of preparing them in order to limit the release of these toxic material into the food items before they are consumed. Keyword: Smoked Catfish, Grilled Meat, Suya, PAHs, Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry, Mass Spectrometry, Isoko.