Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dry tea.

Twenty-eight different tea samples sold in the United States were evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection (FLD) for their contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Many PAHs exhibit carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic properties and have been related to several kinds of cancer in man and experimental animals. The presence of PAHs in environmental samples such as water, sediments, and particulate air has been extensively studied, but food samples have received little attention. Eighteen PAHs congeners were analyzed, with percentage recovery higher than 85%. Contamination expressed as the sum of the 18 analyzed PAHs was between 101 and 1337 µg/kg on dry mass and the average contents in all of the 28 examined samples was 300 µg/kg on dry mass. Seven of the congeners were found in all samples with wide ranges of concentrations as follows: fluorene (7-48 µg/kg), anthracene (1-31 µg/kg), pyrene (1-970 µg/kg), benzo(a)anthracene (1-18 µg/kg) chrysene (17-365 µg/kg), benzo(a)pyrene (1-29 µg/kg), and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (4-119 µg/kg). The two most toxic congeners benzo(a)pyrene and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene were found at high concentrations only in Earl Grey Twinnings, Earl Grey Harney& Sons Fine Teas, and Chai Ultra Spice Black Tea Twinnings. Six PAH congeners are considered as suspected carcinogens (U.S.EPA), formed the basis of the estimation of the toxic equivalent (TEQ), Chai Ultra-Spice Black Tea Twinnings had the highest TEQ (110.9) followed by two grey tea samples, Earl Grey Harney & Sons Fine Tea (57.7) and Earl Grey Twinnings (54.5). Decaffeinated grey teas had the lowest TEQs, decaffeinated Earl Grey Bigelow (9.4) and Green Tea Honey Lemon Decaffeinated Lipton (9.6).

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in roasted coffee.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are suspected to be carcinogenic and mutagenic. This study describes the presence of PAHs in light, medium and dark roasted coffee including instant and decaffeinated brands. Total PAHs concentration was related to the degree of roasting with light roasted coffee showing the least and dark roasted coffee showing the highest level. Both instant and decaffeinated coffee brand showed lower levels of PAHs. Naphthalene, acenaphthylene, pyrene and chrysene were the most abundant individual isomers. The concentrations ranged from 0 to 561 ng g(-1) for naphthalene, 0 to 512 ng g(-1) for acenaphthylene, 60 to 459 ng g(-1) for pyrene and 56 to 371 ng g(-1) for chrysene. Thus, roasting conditions should be controlled to avoid the formation of PAHs due to their suspected carcinogenic and mutagenic properties.