Eating grilled meats may be as harmful as inhaling car exhaust, according to a new study the National Monitor reported.
Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered new compounds produced by certain types of chemical reactions, such as those found in vehicle exhaust or grilling meat, are more than 400 times more mutagenic than known carcinogens.
Mutagens are compounds that alter and damage DNA, sometimes leading to cancer.
"Some of the compounds that we've discovered are far more mutagenic than we previously understood, and may exist in the environment as a result of heavy air pollution from vehicles or some types of food preparation," Staci Simonich, a professor of chemistry and toxicology in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, said in a statement.
Before the study, the compounds were not known to exist.
In their study, researchers identified and examined the compounds in controlled lab experiments that mimic the type of conditions which might be found from the combustion and exhaust in cars and trucks, or grilling meats over a flame.
Researchers said the parent compounds involved in the research were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, formed naturally as the result of almost any type of combustion, from a wood stove to an automobile engine, cigarette or a coal-fired power plant. Many PAHs are known to be carcinogenic.
The newly-discovered compounds were formed when PAHs chemically interacted with nitrogen to become "nitrated," according to a press release.
The National Monitor reported that "direct mutagenicity of the NPAHs with one nitrogen group can increase 6 to 432 times more than the parent compound." And formed from two nitrogen groups can be 272 to 467 times more mutagenic.
Scientists said it is possible that their results might actually downplay the toxicity of the compounds, due to technical elements when working in a lab.
The discovery of the new compounds "and raise concerns about the health impacts of heavily-polluted urban air or dietary exposure," researchers said in a statement. No health standards now exist for them.
