was proposed as a simple and fast sample treatment for the
determination of PAH4
The method involved the stirring of 200 mg of foodstuff with 200 lL of a supramolecular solvent made
up of octanoic acid/tetrabutylammonium octanoate vesicles for 10 min. Then, the extract was analysed
by liquid chromatography/fluorescence detection. Neither dilution nor further clean-up steps of the
extracts were needed. The limit of quantitation of the method (0.3–0.7 lg kg1) was below the threshold
limit established for benzo[a]pyrene in food by EU directives (1–10 lg kg1). The method was successfully
applied to the analysis of smoked meat and fish, bivalve mollusks and processed cereal-based food
for infants. Benzo[a]pyrene was quantified and/or detected in most of the analysed samples. The recoveries
obtained for PAH4 were from 92% to 103% with relative standard deviations less than 5%.