A mini-review on analytical methods for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Vietnamese food and beverage samples

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a common class of organic pollutants in the environment and are of great research interest because of their high toxicity, including carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Food is an important source of PAHs exposure in humans, so analysis of PAHs in food is an essential task of food safety testing. This review article gathers information about the analysis methods of PAHs that has been applied in previous studies on food and beverage samples in Vietnam, including steps of extraction, purification of extracts, and quantitative analysis on a chromatographic system. PAHs are extracted from the sample matrix into less polar organic solvents with different techniques such as liquidliquid, liquid-solid, ultrasonic extraction, and pressurized liquid extraction. Interferences in sample extracts can be removed by various techniques: acid and alkali treatment, gel permeation chromatography, solid phase extraction, and dispersive solid phase extraction. PAHs are separated and quantified on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry systems (GCMS, GC-MS/MS, GC×GC-ToFMS) or liquid chromatograph with fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Analytical procedures are all quality controlled by results with blank samples, limits of detection/quantification, recovery standards, and replicate samples. Overall studies to evaluate the content of PAHs in a variety of food samples need to continue to be performed to establish safe consumption thresholds for this group of pollutants in Vietnam.