Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals can influence smoked fish quality and safety. Concentrations of 16 PAHs and heavy metals from smoked herring from three governorates in Egypt [Al-Behera (CF1), Cairo (CF2), and Alexandria (CF3)] were investigated. The mean concentration of individual PAHs ranged from 0.0007 μg/g of benzo[g,h,i]perylene (BgP) in Cairo to 0.3446 μg/g of benzo[a]anthracene (BaA) in Alexandria with the highest concentrations of the total PAHs found in Alexandria, followed by Al-Behera and then Cairo. Fluorene at CF3 had the highest mean concentration (0.2856 μg/g) which comprised 17.86% of total noncarcinogenic PAHs. Among the genotoxic PAHs (PAH8), BgP showed the lowest mean concentration (0.0007 μg/g) in Alexandria which accounted for 0.2% of ΣPAHs. Benz(a)anthracene had the highest mean values (0.3446 μg/g, 21.55%), followed by chrysene (0.2644 μg/g, 16.54%) at CF3. Mean concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) were 0.0186, 0.0045, and 0.0254 μg/g for Al-Behera, Cairo, and Alexandria, respectively. The mean concentrations for BaP were higher than the maximum acceptable levels (5 μg/kg) established by European Union, which were classified as carcinogen. Among heavy metals, lead had the highest concentration (6.96 μg/g), which was higher than the maximum permissible levels set by World Health Organization, while nickel and arsenic were not detected.