Measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in edible mushrooms (raw, grilled and fried) using MSPE-GC/MS method: a risk assessment study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the concentration of PAHs and health risk in edible mushrooms using magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method. Based on the results, the concentration of total PAHs was in the range from 0.82 to 6.25 µg/kg (with the means of 3.85  ±  0.24 µg/kg). In this study, acenaphthylene (Ace) had the maximum mean level in mushroom samples (0.84  ±  0.19 μg/kg) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), acenaphthene (Ac), phenanthrene (Pa), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DahA), benzo(a)anthracene (BaA), fluoranthene (Fl), indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IP) and benzo[g,h,i]perylene (BgP) had minimum mean level (non-detected). The highest mean values of total PAHs (4.88  ±  0.30 μg/kg) was detected in grilled mushroom samples and lowest mean of total PAHs (2.77  ±  0.04 μg/kg) was detected in raw mushroom samples. The concentration of contamination in edible mushrooms was raw  <  fried  >  grilled, respectively. Furthermore, heat map visualization was applied to evaluate the relationship between the quantity and type of 16 PAHs in edible mushroom samples. Ultimately, the incremental lifetime cancer risk in edible mushrooms for adults and children was 6.85E-08 and 3.47E-07, respectively, which was lower than the acceptable risk limit (10^–6) and all of the edible mushrooms sold in Tehran were considered safe for consumers.