Recent advances in the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in food and water

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a class of harmful and persistent organic contaminant, are widely distributed in the environment and eventually accumulated in water and food. Also, they are formed in different varieties and varying amounts during processing of food depending on the food composition, cooking method and processing condition. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), various PAHs are classified under Group 1 to 3 category, with Group 1 designated as carcinogenic to humans, Group 2A as probable carcinogen, Group 2B as possible carcinogen and Group 3 as noncarcinogenic. Therefore, it is imperative to develop rapid and highly sensitive analytical methods for determination of PAHs in food and water. This article aims to overview the recent advances of various chromatographic methods as well as electrochemical and SERS-based optical sensing methods for analysis of PAHs in food and water. Initially, several conventional sample preparation methods along with the advanced extraction for isolation of PAHs were summarized, followed by reviewing various gas chromatographic methods coupled with various detection techniques for PAHs analysis in various food products including meat/meat products, seafood, oil, milk/milk products, baby foods, honey, vegetable, cocoa products, tea/coffee, juice, rice, flour, noodle and cake. In addition, high performance liquid chromatographic methods coupled with fluorescence, diode array or mass/tandem mass detection techniques as well as an emerging supercritical fluid chromatographic technique employed for determination of PAHs in different food and water matrices were also overviewed. Finally, various electrochemical sensors and SERS-based optical sensors developed recently for onsite detection of PAHs were tabulated and discussed. Thus, this review article can provide a research update on chromatography and sensor-based analytical methods for PAH analysis as well as enable elucidation of research gaps for future studies.

Using QuEChERS and HPLC Method to Monitor the Background Concentration of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Commercial Black Tea Leaves and Infusions in Taiwan

“…The analysis of toxic substance in food commodity is difficult due to the complexity of food matrices and trace concentrations of these compounds. QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) extraction has been developed and applied to extract PAHs from foodstuffs and commodities including meat [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], fish and seafood [ 9 , 13 ], milk [ 14 ], rice grain [ 15 ] and tea [ 16 ]. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and HPLC-FLD are commonly used to analyze PAHs in foodstuffs.…”

Dietary Exposure and Health Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Black Tea Consumed in Taiwan

“…Due to the increase in black tea processing and international trade, there have been concerns about the formation of PAHs in tea products. Some studies have focused on the formation mechanism of PAHs [ 22 , 23 , 24 ] and improving PAHs analysis methods [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. However, there are still few studies on the dietary exposure and health risks of PAHs from high and long-term consumption of black tea products.…”

Development of a highly sensitive method based on QuEChERS and GC–MS/MS for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in infant foods

“…Acetonitrile is an excellent separator from water, after the salt addition, therefore it is suitable to extract the broadest range of organic compounds, without co-extraction of large amounts of lipophilic material, in different matrices (3,27). However, to improve the extraction efficiency of target analytes some solvent modifications have been proposed, namely acidification or combination of acetonitrile with isooctane and/or ethyl acetate (31)(32)(33).…”

“…C18 is particularly effective for the removal of high lipid contents while GCB is used to remove co-extracted pigments, namely carotenoids and chlorophyll, typical from highly pigmented matrices (27,33). For other complex matrices, more oriented adsorbents based on new materials have been developed, such as zirconium-coated silica (32). Furthermore, modifications of the QuEChERS procedure in terms of solvents, salts, and sorbents, are continuously proposed to improve and broaden even more the range of applications from food samples (9).…”

“…In particular, GC coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is the most common analytical tool, mainly due to its sensitivity, accuracy, and convenience even in official methods (34,35). Current literature provides several investigations focused on the extraction and analysis of PAHs in baby food, comprising both traditional and novel approaches (32). Moazzen et al (17) proposed the good performances of MSPE method coupled to GC-MS/MS to detect PAHs in the Irian market.…”