Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), also known as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons or polyarenes, constitute a large class of organic compounds; they are ubiquitous environmental contaminants originated from different emission sources, mainly related to human activities (industrial incineration, transport, uncontrolled spills, surface runoff or atmospheric deposition). These pollutants have a high persistence in the environment, low biodegradability and high lipophility, some of them being highly toxic. Because of their low aqueous solubility and their high hydrophobicity properties, PAHs can migrate and be absorbed through the food chain, being used to track the origin of pollution. Contamination of water may lead to intake of PAH through drinking water and cooked foods. The quantities are usually below 1 ng/L in natural mineral waters below the limits introduced by Directive 2003/40/CE (3 ng/l for benzo(a)pyrene and 6 ng/l for all the others). About this class of water samples, the available data are few; this is likely due to the very low expected levels, commonly below the analytical limit of detection. In order to accomplish the quantification of PAHs, the development of reliable analytical procedures for the extraction and purification of these pollutants is of crucial importance. In this paper a simple and rapid method is described for the determination of the 16 PAHs listed in the US EPA priority list in several bottled natural mineral water samples. Thanks to the selectivity and the high sensitivity of the fluorescence detection coupled with LC, quantification of PAHs will be shown to be possible without any clean up after simple liquid-liquid extraction. The obtained results showed that in 20 commercial natural mineral waters the law limits were respected although in some samples has been found some PAHs in concentrations near to the acceptance threshold. Moreover the total sum of PAHs should be considered for safety requirements
