Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the determination of 16 European priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in smoked meat products and edible oils

Abstract

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed for the analysis of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) highlighted as carcinogenic by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) plus benzo[c]fluorine (recommended to be analysed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in fat-containing foods such as edible oils and smoked meat products. This method includes accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and the highly automated clean-up steps gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and solid-phase extraction (SPE). Using a VF-17ms GC column, a good separation of benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[j]fluoranthene and benzo[k]fluoranthene was achieved. Futhermore, the six methylchrysene isomers and the PAH compounds with a molecular weight of 302 Daltons in fat-containing foods attained a better chromatographic separation in comparison with a 5-ms column. The reliability of the analytical method for edible oils was demonstrated by the results from a proficiency test. Measurements with GC-high-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS) and gas chromatography-mass selective detection (GC-MSD) led to comparable results. A survey of the 16 PAHs in 22 smoked meat products showed concentrations in the range < 0.01-19 microg kg(-1). The median concentration for benzo[a]pyrene was below 0.15 microg kg(-1).

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and Phenolic Substances in Cold Smoked Sausages Depending on Smoking Conditions Using Smouldering Smoke

“…Fluorinated standards were used for compounds for which 13 C-labelled or deuterated standards were not commercially available. Under the gas chromatographic conditions described above, a separation of CHR and triphenylene (TP) was not possible (Ziegenhals et al, 2008). Consequently, a sum parameter of CHR and TP was used.…”

“…The remaining sample was carefully concentrated in a nitrogen stream to about 50 μL (Jira et al, 2008).…”

“…The temperature of the source and the transfer line was heated up to 280 °C and 300 °C, respectively. The resolution of the MS was tuned to 8000 (10% valley definition) (Ziegenhals et al, 2008).…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in chocolate on the German market

“…The chromatographic conditions chosen (VF-17ms) did not allow the separation of CHR and triphenylene (TP). Therefore, both CHR+TP were determined in sum (Jira et al, 2008).…”

Multi-residue determination of 130 multiclass pesticides in fruits and vegetables by gas chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry

“…Typically, the determination of pesticides in complex matrices, such as fruits and vegetables, involves a sample treatment using different techniques as Soxhlet extraction [4], solid phase extraction (SPE) [5,6], supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) [7], microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) [8], matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) [9] and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) [10][11][12]. Some of the procedures reported for fruits and vegetables require the application of additional clean-up steps to remove interferences (such as chlorophyll or fat) and also to improve detection limits.…”