Determination of PAH in food samples by HPLC with fluorimetric detection following sonication extraction without sample clean-up

Abstract

A rapid method is proposed for the determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in non-fatty food (mashed potato, potato and toasted bread samples) based on their extraction with ethyl ether–methylene chloride (l ∶ 1) by sonication, and subsequent separation by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorimetric detection. A Hypersil Green PAH column was used with a gradient of acetonitrile–water as the mobile phase, together with a programme of ten excitation and emission wavelength pairs. At levels 1.60–2320 µg kg⁻¹, mean recoveries of PAH were in the range 70–86% for mashed potato, potato and toasted bread samples. The relative standard deviations were in the range 4.2–11% (n = 6). Total PAH found in mashed potato were in the range 9.35–17.1 µg kg⁻¹, in potato samples 8.47–17.2 µg kg⁻¹ and in toasted bread samples 7.38–18.0 µg kg⁻¹, with relative standard deviations in the range 0.8–12%. Only chrysene, determined in Ortiz toasted bread (7.38 µg kg⁻¹), has carcinogenic properties.