Steve
I am not worried personally about an occasional whiff of smoke, or carcinogens in my charcoaled steak, or mercury in my tuna. It is likely only important if that is what I do every day, repeatedly, to raise my true biological risk, not just some extrapolated statistic
By the way, I researched the cadmium poisoning disease [i]itai-itai[/i] in Japan years ago, so indeed, there really are toxins.
My main concern here would be the trash burning/odors and habituation-of-animals-to-the-trail-or-campsite issue.
here is what the Whitney/Inyo rules say:
[b]it is not acceptable to burn or bury food or trash.[/b]
[url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5347547.pdf]Whitney Inyo rules[/url]
