Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Traditional Chinese Medicine Raw Material, Extracts, and Health Food Products.

Chenggang Cai,Guoli Chang,Zhengyan Hu,Dingguo Jiang,Pinggu Wu,Miaomiao Zhao

doi:10.3390/molecules27061809

Abstract

The four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon markers (PAH4) of benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chr), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) are indicators showing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination levels in Chinese medicine raw materials (CMRMs), extracts and health food products; Samples of herbal medicine, herbal extracts, and food supplements were extracted with n-hexane, then cleaned up sequentially on Florisil and EUPAH solid-phase extraction (SPE) columns. A gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method for the determination of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon markers in Chinese medicine raw material, extracts, and health food products was established; In spiked-recovery experiments, the average recovery was about 78.6–107.6% with a precision of 2.3–10.5%. The limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) of the PAH4 markers in this method were 2.0 μg/kg and 0.7 μg/kg, respectively. When the developed method was utilized to determine PAH4 contents in 12 locally available health food products, 3 samples contained over 10.0 μg/kg BaP, and 5 samples contained over 50.0 μg/kg PAH4. The European Union (EU) limits for BaP and PAH4 are 10 and 50.0 μg/kg, respectively; therefore, more attention must be drawn to the exposure risk of BaP and PAH4 in CMRMs, their extracts, and health food products. According to the risk assessment based on the Margin of Exposure (MOE) method, it is recognized that the products mentioned in this study pose a low risk.

Highlights

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute a large class of organic compounds that contain two or more fused aromatic rings composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms [1]
The BaP content in dry herbs should be less than 10.0 μg/kg, and the total PAH4 content should be less than 50.0 μg/kg
Ten kinds of Red clover extract, Hypericum perforatum extract, Valeriana officinalis extract as well as Giant knotweed extract were surveyed for PAH4 concentration by gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC–MS), combined with sulfuric acid acidification, and the results showed PAH4 content ranging from 19.59 to

Summary

Introduction

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute a large class of organic compounds that contain two or more fused aromatic rings composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms [1]. PAHs: tea [1,9,10], coffee [10], and meat [11], and there are many other foods or food materials containing PAHs that have not been of concern in the traditional consumption habits or utilization methods. Some plant foods or ingredients involving herbs or their extracts were rarely reported for their pollution or contamination by PAHs. Due to the increase in trade, including food and some traditional herb medicine worldwide, some regulations were established for the control of PAHs import or export. The European Commission (EC) has enacted EU Regulation 2015/1933 [12], which defines the maximum allowable residual content of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and PAH4 of benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chr), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF) and BaP in food supplements, dried herbs, and dry spices as a representative assessment of overall PAHs risk. The BaP content in dry herbs should be less than 10.0 μg/kg, and the total PAH4 content should be less than 50.0 μg/kg

Methods

Results

Conclusion