MUTAGENICITY AND CHEMICAL-ANALYSIS OF FUMES FROM COOKING MEAT

Fumes generated during the high-temperature frying of beef were collected using a sampling system consisting of condenser, filter, and adsorbent tubes containing polyurethane foam (PUF) and XAD-4 resin. Condenser, filter, and cooked beef samples were analyzed for heterocyclic amines (HCAs) by HPLC. The PUF and XAD-4 samples were fractionated using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and analyzed by GC/MSD. In a modified Ames/Salmonella mutagenicity test (TA98 with S9), the mutagenic activity was 30 700 revertants/g in the cooked beef, 10 400 revertants/g in the fume condenser, and 270 revertants/g in the sampling filters. HCAs were found in both the fume condenser (total of 6 ng/g of cooked meat) and the meat (total of 109 ng/g of cooked meat). GC/MSD analysis of the compounds collected on PUF and XAD-C revealed a variety of aldehydes, ketones, and phenols. Occupational exposure to carcinogens in the fumes may pose a human health risk to food preparers and warrants further investigation.