Is the Control of Benzo(a)Pyrene Enough in the Products of the Fishing?

There are different ways of exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs); certainly the main source is air, but we believe interesting dietary exposure. Daily intake of PAHs in humans is highly variable. The measure of PAH mixtures in food as a risk factor for human cancer is very important, it's known that PAHs express an important toxicity and mutagenicity, so several of them were classified as probable (2A) or possible (2B) carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In particular, we evaluated the concentration of PAHs in fish caught in the Mediterranean Sea. European legislation provides for the implementation of the Directive 1881/2006, which sets a limit only for Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP).We have analyzed 30 samples of fish by Sicily channel; every analysis has been repeated 3 times and the result has been mediate. In detail, the fish sample is extracted by sonication with organic solution, purified by C18 SPE and analyzed by HPLC UV-FL. Sixteen PAHs were analyzed: Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Benzo(a)Anthracene, Chrysene, Benzo(b)Fluoranthene, Benzo(k)Fluoranthene, Benzo(a)Pyrene, Dibenz(a,h)Anthracene, Benzo(g,h,i)Perylene, and Indeno(1,2,3-cd)Pyrene.BaP is always less than the limits prescribed by law; were detected in traces in all the analytes considered. In detail, the molecules more concentrated are Naphthalene and Acenaphthylene. The sum of the PAHs analyzed ranges from 4 to 13.8 ppb. The results of this study underline and confirm the homogeneous presence of numerous PAHs in samples of fish.Our results comparing with European law suggest to estimate and set a maximum concentration of PAHs in food. Further studies are necessary to improve the state of knowledge on the relative potency of individual PAHs and to estimate their toxicity and/or carcinogenicity.