Phthalate and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels in liquid ingredients of packaged fish sold in Turkish markets

Abstract

Phthalates (PAEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants in environment and foodstuffs. The objective of this study was to investigate the contamination possibility of phthalates and PAHs in packaged and canned fishes. For this purpose, tuna, salmon, sardine and mackerel canned and packaged with different liquid ingredients (water, olive oil, sunflower oil, mixture of sunflower and canola oil) attained from local markets in Turkey in 2019, were analyzed for presence of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and benzo(a)anthracene (BaA), benzotalpyrene (BaP), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), chrysene (Chr). The instrumental analyses were performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). In all analyzed samples, the levels of DBP, BBP, DINP and DIDP were less than their LOQ, so these phthalates were not quantified. The highest DEPH content was found 650 mu g/kg in sample 2 (tuna in olive oil, packaged in plastic package). The highest sum of PAH 4 concentration was 9.97 mu g/kg in sample 4 (salmon canned in sunflower oil). Some samples (19 samples) were free for all analyzed PAEs and PAHs. All levels of these persistent organic pollutants were lower than regulation limits of Turkey and EU.