Thermo Fisher Scientific HPLC method for benzo(a)pyrene determination in meat products

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed an efficient high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with fluorescence detection for sensitive and rapid determination of benzo[a]pyrene in meat products.

Benzo[a]pyrene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compound formed from the incomplete combustion of organic matter. Due to its potential carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, most countries have regulations limiting its concentration in drinking water, food additives, cosmetics, workplaces and factory emissions. Some samples such as sausage and preserved ham have too complex a matrix that interferes with the separation of benzo[a]pyrene, thus preventing use of a routine HPLC method and making benzo[a]pyrene quantification difficult.

This method uses online solid-phase extraction (SPE) for sample preparation instead of the commonly used offline SPE method. According to the company, this approach reduces costs associated with the SPE cartridge, labour, time, and reagents; and results are more consistent because the clean-up step is performed by automated online SPE rather than manual offline SPE.