Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH4) in food by vesicular supramolecular solvent-based microextraction and LC–fluorescence detection

An organic solvent-free microextraction was proposed as a simple and fast sample treatment for the determination of PAH4 (viz. benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluorantene and benzo[a]pyrene). The method involved the stirring of 200 mg of foodstuff with 200 μL of a supramolecular solvent made up of octanoic acid/tetrabutylammonium octanoate vesicles for 10 min. Then, the extract was analysed by liquid chromatography/fluorescence detection. Neither dilution nor further clean-up steps of the extracts were needed. The limit of quantitation of the method (0.3–0.7 μg kg−1) was below the threshold limit established for benzo[a]pyrene in food by EU directives (1–10 μg kg−1). The method was successfully applied to the analysis of smoked meat and fish, bivalve mollusks and processed cereal-based food for infants. Benzo[a]pyrene was quantified and/or detected in most of the analysed samples. The recoveries obtained for PAH4 were from 92% to 103% with relative standard deviations less than 5%.