[Simultaneous determination of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons additives in vegetable oil by ultra performance...

To establish a rapid method for simultaneous determination of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in vegetable oil by ultra performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

The vegetable oils were extracted with acetonitrile and acetone (1:1), purified with Oasis HLB and Sep-Pak Florsil column, separated on Waters PAH C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 3 microm) special column for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with a mobile phase of acetonitrile, methanol and water for gradient elution, the column temperature was 35 degrees C, and the injection was 10 microl. The concentration of PAHs in samples were determined with fluorescence detector, and quantitative analysis was carried out by external standard.

The 15 PAHs were completely separated within 9 min. Within 2 to 200 microg/L, the peak area and content was in a good linear relationship (r > or = 0.9990). The average recoveries of three spiked levels (10, 50 and 100 microg/kg) were 75.8% and 96.4%, with RSDs of 3.42% - 8.03% (n = 5). The limits of detection were 0.025 - 0.8 microg/kg and the limits of quantification were 0.08 - 3.0 microg/kg.

This method is simple and quick with high sensitivity, and it is suitable for the determination of 15 PAHs in vegetable oil.