Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in smoked fishery products from different smoking kilns.

The levels of 13 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were determined by an HPLC method with fluorescence and UV detection and by a GC/MS technique in smoked fishery products from modern smoking kilns with external smoke generation and from traditional smoking kilns. The average benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) concentration of all 35 samples from commercial smoking kilns with external smoke generation was 0.1 microgram/kg (wet weight) and the sum of the carcinogenic compounds determined in the study, i.e. benz(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene and indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene did not exceed 4.5 micrograms/kg (wet weight). The BaP levels of the 27 smoked fish samples from traditional kilns ranged from 0.2 microgram/kg to 4.1 micrograms/kg, with a mean value of 1.2 micrograms BaP/kg. The average concentration of the sum of the carcinogenic compounds was 9.0 micrograms/kg. Large variations were found in the content of the non-carcinogenic PAHs phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene in all samples from both types of smoking kilns.