title: Assessments and improvements in methods for monitoring seafood safety in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
abstract: As a result of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, sensory testing protocols were established for reopening closed seafood harvest areas. In order to improve this method and quantitatively assess petrochemical taint, a new method using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and a 5975T transportable GC/MS was developed. This method can analyze 40 samples per instrument per day and could be an alternative to the human sensory panel. In seafood samples collected from supermarkets in the Washington D.C. area and the Gulf of Mexico, all compounds related to petrochemical taint were below the method detection limit (MDL) (0.14-2.6 ng/g). Additionally, to address consumer concerns regarding the presence of n-alkanes and iso-alkanes in seafood, these compounds were investigated in samples purchased in the Washington D.C. area and the Gulf of Mexico. Concentrations in Gulf of Mexico finfish ranged from 0.066 to 1.2 mg/kg, which is within the same background range of iso- and n-alkanes measured in seafood samples purchased in the Washington D.C. area (0.0072-1.6 μg/g). These automated methods provide a transportable option to obtain rapid results for compounds indicative of petroleum taint and iso- and n-alkanes in case of a future disaster.
authors.affiliation: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, US Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland, United States. susan.genualdi@fda.hhs.gov
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Genualdi
authors.forename: Lowri
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: DeJager
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Begley
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D004219:District of Columbia; D005399:Fishes / Q000254:growth & development*; D005506:Food Contamination; D005513:Food Inspection / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D060851:Gulf of America; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D017747:Seafood / Q000032:analysis*; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical