Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the main component of petroleum, are a concern due to their environmental persistence, long-range transport, and potential toxic effects on animal, human health, and the environment. PAHs are considered persistent compounds and can be bioaccumulated in sediments and aquatic biota. Determining PAHs in animals and environmental samples consists of three steps: extraction, clean-up or purification, and analytical determination. The matrix complexity and the diversity of environmental contaminants, such as PAHs resulted in the development of numerous analytical techniques and protocols for the extraction of these components and analysis in several samples. This systematic review article seeks to relate the extraction and preparation methods of complex samples from aquatic animals and the two main detection techniques of PAHs. For the elaboration of the research, 67 articles published between 2011 and 2021 were sought, which specifically contemplated the isolation of aquatic extracts and detection and quantification techniques of PAHs.
Graphical Abstract
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful for the financial support provided by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) Brazil.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Data availability statement
Data sharing not applicable – no new data generated.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.
OBS: The systematic review article does not report new data; it only describes what is in the literature on the subject and makes some discussions for the authors' best choice.