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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Source and Route of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Contamination in Tea Samples
Published on: September 28, 2022
Contamination, traceability, and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in medicinal and edible
Xinying Guo1, Weibing Zhang2, Shaocong Pan3
1Nantong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nantong, PR China; Nantong Key Laboratory of Food Hygiene, Nantong Food Safety Testing Center, Nantong, PR China.
Abstract:
This study investigated the contamination, source tracing analysis and risk assessment of 22 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 58 samples of Ganoderma lucidum products. The range of ∑22PAHs in samples was 71.59 to 421.76 μg/kg, with ∑PAH4 ranging from 13.56 to 58.34 μg/kg and ∑16 US EPA PAHs 66.77 to 386.15 μg/kg. The composition of seven PAHs is mainly composed of 2 to 4 rings, with the detection rates of 100% and they always played an important role in the carcinogenicity and mutagenicity of the samples. Analysis of the source tracing characteristics revealed that PAHs in samples are mainly derived from petroleum, oil vehicle exhaust, coal combustion and biomass combustion. The cancer risk level of samples is relatively low, older adults have a higher lifetime risk of cancer than children, females have a higher risk than males, and rural areas have a higher risk than urban areas, but the overall risk can be ignored.