Concentration and probabilistic health risk assessment of benzo(a)pyrene in extra virgin olive oils supplied in Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT

One hundred and sixteen samples of extra virgin olive oils (VOOs) from markets of Tehran were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to detect the amount of benzo (a)pyrene. The values of LOD and LOQ were calculated as 0.03 and 0.05 µg/kg, respectively. The concentration of benzo (a) pyrene was from 0.03 to 0.95 µg/kg. The results indicate that the levels of benzo (a) pyrene are lower than the limits approved. Target Hazard quotient (THQ) and Margin of Exposure (MOE) were estimated. The mean of THQ for adults and children was 0.0006 and 0.0028 and also mean of MOE for adults and children was 43,503 and 9438, respectively. The probabilistic health risk shows that THQ is less than 1 value; hence consumers are not at non-cancer risk. The mean of MOE value for adults was more than 10,000 but for children was less than 10,000. Hence, children are at health risk borderline.

KEYWORDS:

• Benzo (a) pyrene
• exposure assessment
• HPLC/FLD
• olive oil
• food safety

Acknowledgement

We thank the Environmental Health, Food Safety Division, Faculty of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors contributions

Sampling and analysis were conducted by Parisa Sadighara, Raheleh Ghanbari, and Parviz Kavousi, and write and edit the manuscript by Yadolah Fakhri, Intissar Limam, Trias Mahmudiono, and Parisa Sadighara

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Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article