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Polycyclic hydrocarbons in singed food in Iceland
Author(s) -
Thorsteinsson Thorsteinn,
Thordarson Gudmundur
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(196803)21:3<390::aid-cncr2820210308>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - combustion , diesel fuel , carcinogen , environmental science , propane , environmental chemistry , chemistry , waste management , organic chemistry , engineering
The contents of polycyclic hydrocarbons, including the carcinogen 3:4 benzpyrene, in singed food depends on the fuel used. Evidence was found that the polycyclic hydrocarbons were not produced by the action of the heat on the singed material but rather that they were taken up as intermediary products of incomplete combustion of the fuel. When combustion of fuel is nearly complete, as in the flame of propane or acetylene‐oxygen, only negligible amounts of polycyclic hydrocarbons are found in the singed material whereas they are taken up in considerable quantities when fuel of lower rate of combustion as coal or diesel oil is used. Sheep heads singed over slow‐burning fuels such as peat or coal have been a common dietary source of the carcinogen 3:4 benzpyrene and other polycyclic hydrocarbons in Iceland and the same applies to singed birds in some locations.