title: [Environmentally induced contamination of foods by carcinogenic hydrocarbons in the GDR and the Hungarian People's Republic].
abstract: In the GDR the benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) contents of vegetables grown in areas far from industrial plants range from 0.01 to 2.3 microgram/kg of fresh weight with a mean of 0.43 microgram/kg; and in the Hungarian People's Republic the BaP contents of such vegetables lie between 0.05 and 3.85 microgram/kg with a mean of 0.6 microgram/kg. The BaP contents of vegetables from areas near industrial plants or in the immediate proximity of emitters range from 0.15 to 12.4 microgram/kg (in the GDR) and from 0.05 to 19.6 microgram/kg (in the Hungarian People's Republic), being markedly superior to the values obtained with comparable vegetables from areas far from industrial plants. The BaP contents of samples from the Hungarian People's Republic collected near a relatively new petrochemical plant were 3.5 times as high as those of samples collected in areas far from industrial plants; and the BaP contents obtained with samples collected in the proximity of an old petrochemical plant were 8 times as high as those observed with samples collected in areas far from industrial plants. The contamination depends strongly upon the type of emitter. Samples collected in the GDR in the immediate proximity of coal-preparation plants (such as tar extraction, coking or carbon black plants) contained BaP contents 10 to 100 times as high as those found in samples collected in areas far from industrial plants. Targeted measures aiming at diminishing air pollution will widely reduce the contamination of harvested crops with cancerogenic hydrocarbons.
mesh_terms: D002273:Carcinogens / Q000032:analysis*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005506:Food Contamination; D005859:Germany, East; D006814:Hungary; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D014675:Vegetables / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006838:Hydrocarbons
vernacular_title: Untersuchungen zur umweltbedingten Kontamination von Lebensmitteln mit krebserzeugenden Kohlenwasserstoffen in der DDR und der Ungarischen VR.