A collaborative study on assessment of PAHs in vegetable oils

The Italian Society for the Study of Fatty Substances, in cooperation with Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità carried out a collaborative study involving 19 laboratories, with the aim to acquire a preliminary evaluation of methods applied to assess PAHs in fats and oils. Furthermore, the results obtained from these methods were evaluated to see to what extent they were in agreement. The methods used to evaluate the individual PAHs are complex, and, even if some laboratories have tried to harmonize them, most prefer to apply well known and reliable methods. This approach is in agreement with the more recent indications of UE (Reg (EC) 208/2005, Recommendation of 4 February 2005 Official Journal of the European Union L 34 8.2.2005 and Directive 2005/10/EC) that suggest that any suitable method is applicable, if it works in agreement with some selected characteristics. Of course, the analytical methods applied by different laboratories which participated in this study, did not form an exhaustive list of all analytical methods used by Italian laboratories. Results were in good agreement when highly contaminated oils were analy- sed but some problems arose with very low concentrations. When a sample on the borderline of the UE limit (2ppb) was analysed, most laborato- ries were able to obtain a correct classification of the sample.