Warning for BBQ lovers… grilling your meat could lead to arthritis, scientists fear
Fumes from cooking meat on barbecues, wood stoves and traffic may trigger rheumatoid arthritis, new research suggests.
Researchers found that people with the highest levels of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — also given off by cigarette smoke and gas stoves — were at the highest risk for the inflammatory disease.
The research reported in BMJ Open said the chemicals appear to be responsible for most of smoking’s impact on risk of the disease.
The researchers said few studies have looked at their association with inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The disease is believed to arise from a complex interplay between genes, gender and age, and environmental factors, including smoking, diet and lifestyle.
Researchers found that people with the highest levels of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — also given off by cigarette smoke and gas stoves — were at the highest risk for the inflammatory disease
Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common inflammatory disease, affecting around 400,000 people in the UK, according to the NHS. It can affect adults at any age, but usually starts between the ages of 40 and 50. About three times as many women as men are affected.
Dr. Christopher D’Adamo, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and colleagues state, “While PAH levels are typically higher in adults who smoke, other sources of exposure to PAH include indoor environments, motor vehicle exhaust, natural gas, smoke from wood or coal fires, fumes from asphalt roads, and consuming grilled or charred foods.
“This is relevant because households of lower socioeconomic status generally experience poorer indoor air quality and may live in urban areas next to main roads or in high traffic areas.”
These people may therefore be particularly vulnerable, they suggest.
The study was based on data collected by the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2007 and 2016.
The study evaluates a wide range of toxic substances, including PAH; chemicals used in the manufacture of plastics and various consumer products called PHTHTEs); and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from paint, cleaning products and pesticides, among other things; along with data related to health, nutrition, behavior and the environment.
The study included 21,987 adults, of whom 1,418 had rheumatoid arthritis and 20,569 did not.
Blood and urine samples were taken to measure the total amount of PAH (7090 participants), PHTHTEs (7024) and VOCs (7129) in the body.
The risk of rheumatoid arthritis was highest among those who had more than 25 percent of PAH levels in the body — regardless of whether they were former or current smokers. The levels of other chemicals had no effect.
After taking into account potentially influential factors, including dietary fiber intake, physical activity, smoking, household income, education level, age, sex, and weight (BMI), only one type of PAH, 1-hydroxynaphthalene, was strongly associated with a higher likelihood of the disease – an 80 percent increased risk.
The authors point out that the study is observational, so it cannot determine whether the PAH chemicals caused the arthritis, nor did it measure levels of heavy metals previously associated with rheumatoid arthritis risk. Cigarettes are an important source of the heavy metal cadmium.
But the authors write: ‘To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that PAH not only underlies most of the relationship between smoking and [rheumatoid arthritis]but also contribute independently [it].
“This is important because PAHs are ubiquitous in the environment and come from a variety of sources.” The PAHs contribute to arthritis by triggering a receptor in tissues called the aryl pathway, the authors write.