Assessment of the dietary habits and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in primary school children

Thirty Italian children, 7-9 year aged, living in Naples were investigated on their dietary habits and on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure by a food diary-questionnaire and one week duplicate diet sample analyses. Daily total food consumption mean value was 632±215 g day-1, median value 613 g day-1. The daily energy intake and the diet composition meanly agreed with the official guidelines for the Italian children. 16 PAHs were simultaneously detected and, according to the EFSA approach, benzo[a]pyrene; benzo[a]pyrene+chrysene (PAH2); PAH2+benz[a]anthracene+benzo[b]fluoranthene (PAH4); PAH4+benzo[k]fluoranthene+benzo[ghi]perylene+dibenz[a,h]anthracene+ indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (PAH8) were considered in evaluating the children’s dietary exposure to PAHs. The benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) median concentrations in foods varied from 0.06 to 0.33 μg kg-1. Only three samples of cooked foods (one fish and two meat samples) exceeded legal limits fixed by EU for BaP. Daily median intakes of benzo[a]pyrene, PAH2, PAH4, and PAH8 were 153; 318; 990; 1776 ng day-1; their median exposure values were 5; 10; 28 ; 54 ng kg-1 bw day-1. The Margins of Exposure (MOEs) in median consumers agreed with the EFSA safety values except for PAH8