Solid-Phase Extraction Combined with Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry for the Determination of 5 Trace Nitro-Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Barbecued Foods

Abstract

Background Nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs) are the derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon which are direct mutagens and carcinogens to human. Nitro-PAHs can be produced in the process of food barbecuing/grilling. At present, there are few studies for the determination of nitro-PAHs in food. Objective To assess the effect of barbecued food to human health, we have established a method for the determination of 5 nitro-PAHs in barbecued foods. Methods The target nitro-PAHs were extracted with the mixture of methanol/acetone and then purified with an HLB SPE cartridge and finally analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Two pairs of target multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) ion pairs have been successfully identified for the target nitro-PAHs, and confirmed by high-resolution mass spectrometry to explore their formation mechanism. Results The method had linear ranges of 2.0–500 µg/L (except 1-nitronaphthalene 20–5000 µg/L) with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.995. The extraction recoveries were between 70.1% and 85.6% with the relative standard deviations less than 10.0%. The limits of detection of the method were less than 0.60 µg/L (except 1-nitronaphthalene 6.0 µg/L). Conclusions The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of 5 nitro-PAHs in barbecued foods. 1-nitronaphthalene, 1,8-dinitropyrene , 1-nitropyrene were detected in some charcoal grilled samples with the contents of 1.35–12.9 µg/kg. 1,8-Dinitropyrene was detected in some oil-fried samples with the contents of 2.12–5.12 µg/kg. Highlights This work presents an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of 5 nitro-PAHs in barbecued foods for the first time. The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of 5 nitro-PAHs in various barbecued foods and the nitro-PAHs were detected in some barbecued food samples. The mechanism of mass spectrometric decomposition of nitro-PAHs was investigated as well.

Detection of Nitrated, Oxygenated and Hydrogenated Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds in Smoked Fish and Meat Products

“…In comparison to our results, 2NFlu and 3NFla were not detected, for 2NFlu in twenty meat and fish samples [ 44 ] and for 3NFla in 11 barbecued samples [ 42 ] and smoked sausages [ 45 ]. Our method did not detect any di-nitro pyrenes (DNPyrs) in samples, which was conversely reported in eight of eleven barbecued foods in a concentration range of 3.2–13 µg/kg (1,8DNPyr, [ 42 ]).…”

“…These reported mean concentrations were similar to our result ( Table 3 ). Conversely to us, the 1NPyr has also been commonly detected [ 10 , 11 , 23 , 42 , 45 ]. In comparison to our results, 2NFlu and 3NFla were not detected, for 2NFlu in twenty meat and fish samples [ 44 ] and for 3NFla in 11 barbecued samples [ 42 ] and smoked sausages [ 45 ].…”

“…One of the frequently detected and reported NPAHs is 1NNap [ 30 , 42 , 44 , 45 ]. The concentration for 1NNap was reported from 2.0 to 162 µg/kg, where the highest concentration was reported for smoked samples [ 42 , 44 ]. These reported mean concentrations were similar to our result ( Table 3 ).…”

“…Methods for the analysis of PAHs have often been extended for the analysis of OPAHs after minor modifications [ 3 , 22 , 35 ]. On the other hand, for the NPAHs determination, single specific analytical methods has previously been developed [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 31 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. Only few studies included simultaneous sample results on PAHs, NPAHs and OPAHs [ 3 , 24 , 28 ].…”

Risk assessment of grilled and barbecued food

“…No differences in the PANH contents were observed between the raw and fried meat. Qu et al, (2020) compared formation of various nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs) in charcoal-grilled and fried food (Qu et al, 2020). In general, it was observed that the concentrations of the nitro-PAHs 1-Nitronaphthalene 1,8-Dinitropyrene and 1-Nitropyrene were higher in grilled food with a concentration range of approximately 1-12 ng/g.…”