Quantitative and Comparative Assessment of Smoked and Unsmoked Fish for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Abstract

This study was aimed to profile and compare polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in different brands of raw and smoked fish. Fish samples were homogenized in anhydrous sodium sulphate and the homogenate was extracted using soxhlet extractor in a temperature-controlled mantle. The extract was purified using silica gel and analyzed using Gas Chromatography coupled with Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). The results from the analysis confirmed the presence of 15 PAHs in both the smoked and unsmoked fish samples. The results further showed that smoking increased PAHs in all fish samples analyzed but some levels of reduction were observed in herring. Naphthalene and acenaphthene were not detected in the three fish samples. Herring rarely acquired PAHs during smoking except for the concentration of benzo(a)anthracene and benzo(g,h,i)perylene which was 556.6% and 266.7% respectively after the smoking process. Additionally, this study revealed the biosorption potential of variety of fish to bioaccumulate environmental PAHs, ranked in the order of herring<catfish<mackerel. The sum of PAH4 detected in all fish samples exceeded the European Union safe permissible limit of 12μg/kg. The prevalence of high molecular weight PAHs was an indicator of likely carcinogenic health risks their consumption could elicit.