BENZO(A)PYRENE IN BRAZILIAN VEGETABLE-OILS

Samples of vegetable oils on the Brazilian market including rape seed, corn, soybean, sunflower, rice, palm and garlic were analysed for ben zo(a)pyrene (B(a)P). The analytical method involved liquid-liquid extr action, clean-up on silica gel column and determination by high perfor mance liquid chromatography using fluorescence detection. The limit of detection was 0.5 mu g/kg. Benzo(a)pyrene was detected in almost all samples, at levels up to 58.9 mu g/kg. The mean levels of B(a)P in ric e, sunflower, soybean, corn and palm oils were 1.8, 0.2, 2.2, 10.8 and 2.1 mu g/kg respectively. No B(a)P was detected in garlic and rape se ed oils. The data indicate that the levels of B(a)P found in Brazilian corn oils are relatively higher than those published in the literatur e for European corn oils.