Evaluation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Circassian cheese by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in traditional/industrial smoked and unsmoked Circassian cheeses available in Turkish markets were analysed using solid-phase extraction, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. Mean levels of a total of 9 PAHs in smoked traditional and industrial Circassian cheeses were 19.6 and 6.73?gkg -1 , while levels in unsmoked traditional and industrial cheeses were 0.77 and 0.49?gkg -1 , respectively. The dominant individual PAHs found were naphthalene and acenaphthene. Benzo[a]pyrene, a marker compound representing carcinogenic PAHs, was found in 90% and 30% of traditional smoked and unsmoked Circassian cheeses, 52% and 24% of industrial smoked and unsmoked cheeses, respectively. Correlation statistical analysis showed that benzo[a]pyrene was a good marker for total 9 PAHs in Circassian cheese samples (r B[a]P/sum of 9 PAHs =0.816, p<0.01) as well as the best marker for 5 carcinogenic PAHs (r B[a]P/carcinogenic PAHs =0.904, p<0.01). Risk assessment conducted using daily intakes of sum of 9 PAH levels found in both traditional and industrial smoked Circassian cheese samples showed high risk compared with unsmoked cheeses. © 2014 Elsevier Inc