Pollutants: barbecuing gets under your skin

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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In summer, barbecues are high season. Unfortunately, steaks or sausages cooked over fire are delicious, but not particularly healthy. Because when grilling, among other things, so-called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed. These can provoke respiratory diseases and have proven to be carcinogenic, at least in animal experiments.

The harmful compounds enter the body when the food is consumed and are inhaled with the smoke. Most people are not aware that they are also absorbed directly through the skin on a large scale.

More pollutants through the skin than through the lungs

Researchers led by Eddy Zeng from Jinan University in Guangzhou, China, exposed volunteers to varying amounts of grill smoke and grilled food. They then used urine samples to determine how much the participants were exposed to PAHs.

As expected, the highest levels of PAHs were found when the participants had consumed grilled goods. What was surprising, however, was that even more pollutants entered the body through the skin than through inhaled smoke.

Change contaminated clothing quickly

Clothing did not provide adequate protection against contamination: once it was saturated with smoke, it became a reservoir of poisons itself.

The scientists recommend that you change your clothes and wash them thoroughly after a barbecue.

Tips for low-risk preparation

Pollutants can also be reduced when preparing the food to be grilled. In addition to the PAHs already mentioned, these are also so-called heterocyclic aromatic amines, which are also suspected of causing cancer. These always arise when foods containing protein are heated to a high temperature.
The German Cancer Society recommends:

Use lean meat. PAHs are mainly formed when fat or oily marinade drips off and burns.
Therefore, if possible, do not place sausages & Co. directly over the heat source, but to the side.
If you prefer fatty meat, you should prepare it in aluminum grill pans.
You should generously remove very dark or burned areas.
If possible, use an electric or gas grill. When grilling with charcoal, let it glow well before placing your food on the wire rack.