title: Rapid and sensitive method for the determination of four EU marker polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cereal-based foods using isotope-dilution GC/MS.
abstract: A rapid and sensitive method has been developed for the determination of the four European Union marker polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene) in some cereal-based foods. The method is based on pressurised liquid extraction (PLE), solid-phase extraction clean-up (SPE) and isotope-dilution gas chromatography with mass-spectrometric detection (GC/MS). The developed method was calibrated for the content range of 0.05-12.5 µg kg(-1) (expressed on a product basis). Recoveries of PAH were monitored in each sample via the recovery of (13)C-labelled PAHs. Recovery values were in the range between 86% and 91%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) between 5% and 9%. The achieved limits of detection for all analytes were below 0.05 µg kg(-1). The applicability of the method for the analysis of routine samples was studied by the analysis of a set of commercial bread and breakfast cereal samples. In all analysed samples, benzo[a]pyrene (BAP) was the most prevalent PAH with the content between 0.09 and 0.30 µg kg(-1). On average, samples showed low levels of the sum of the four EU marker PAHs (ΣPAH4) that ranged between 0.11 and 0.22 µg kg(-1) for bread samples and between 0.23 and 0.87 µg kg(-1) for breakfast cereal samples. The developed method was found suitable for the determination of PAHs in cereal-based foods like cornflakes and breads with total relative fat contents below 3.5%.
authors.affiliation: a Giresun University , Faculty of Engineering, Department of Food Engineering , Giresun , Turkey.
authors.forename: Sibel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kacmaz
authors.affiliation: b European Commission, Joint Research Centre , Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements , Geel , Belgium.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zelinkova
authors.affiliation: b European Commission, Joint Research Centre , Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements , Geel , Belgium.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wenzl
mesh_terms: D002138:Calibration; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000737:chemistry*; D005062:European Union; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D035501:Uncertainty
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
keywords: Four EU marker PAHs; GC/MS analysis; bread; cornflakes; method validation