 What are some of the ways we can decrease our exposure to the carcinogenic substances in meat that are formed during cooking? They have a whole list of hazard factors. The first factor is meat type, with processed meat, red or white, being the worst, then temperature, cooking it under 260 degrees Fahrenheit, so like boiling or microwaving, safer, whereas broiling, roasting or pan frying is the worst, turning it over every minute lowers risk, and rather than a dark and flavorful crust, they recommend pale and soft, cooked rare lowers risk as long as you meet food safety guidelines. Spices or a vinegar containing marinade lowers carcinogen formation, avoid gravy, stick to one serving, which is like a deck of cards or the size of a bar of soap, and eat vegetables and fruit with your meal. Even just being around a barbecue may be a bad idea, even if you don't eat anything off of it. Here they estimate the extra lifetime cancer risk associated with standing about 6 feet away from a charcoal grill every day, and about 30 feet away, with both 25% skin exposure and 100% skin exposure. They're not talking about grilling in the nude. This is out of our recognition that light clothing probably provides little protection from these gaseous carcinogens. Skin contact is often neglected, and these kinds of risk assessments of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. But we know it's a problem from studies on firefighters that show that even in full protective gear, breathing through a respirator, they still end up with these compounds in their bodies, likely through their neck, under their helmets. These results indicated that outdoor exposure to barbecue fumes, particularly through the skin, may have become a significant but largely neglected source of health hazards, but their estimates were from barbecuing once a day, every day, year-round. Though they're thinking that toxic fumes might actually stick to people's clothing, which could then bring it inside with them to continue exposure, these are all some of the chemicals that led to the official scientific body that determines what is and is not carcinogenic, to declare that processed meat does cause cancer, and red meat probably causes cancer. They consider both the nitrites in processed meat as well as these cooked meat carcinogens. However, due to the practically unavoidable presence of other carcinogenic compounds, which are already present in raw or unprocessed meats, these chemicals are not the only potentially carcinogenic substances in meat and meat products. These other substances are well-known environmental pollutants, such as some heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs, so-called persistent organic pollutants to which we're primarily exposed via dietary intake of dairy products, meat, and fish. Although dioxins are created when paper pulp is bleached, but I have a feeling this is an autocorrect error. How bad a problem is this in the United States? Well, the USDA examined whether levels of dioxin-like compounds in meat and poultry indicate possible concern of U.S. public health. And they concluded that a typical U.S. adult exposure is below the EPA-established reference dose, meaning the maximum acceptable limit of a toxic substance. Only children consuming average daily servings of meat or poultry, regularly consuming the highest levels, may exceed the limit. Putting all the carcinogens together, some toxicologists suggest limiting the consumption of beef, pork, and chicken, such that children consume at most five servings combined of all these meats each. So on average, like one serving every six days or so, max. Yeah, but what about organic meat? We'll find out next.