Determination of Parent and Oxygenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Waste Cooking Oil and Oil Deodorizer Distillate by GC-QQQ-MS.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs) are classes of contaminants that are present in the environment and food. They pose a great threat to human health because of their carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Very few studies have focused on their concentration in waste cooking oil (WCO) and oil deodorizer distillate (ODD). This study aimed () to design a reliable method to determine 16 PAHs and 4 OPAHs in both WCO and ODD and () to determine and analyze PAH and OPAH concentrations in actual samples to provide references for further research. The PAH determination approach included double liquid-liquid extraction, double solid-phase extraction, and GC-triple quadrupole tandem MS determination. Oxidation indices were determined by titrimetry. The method reached good linearity (² > 0.99) and an acceptable recovery rate (55.01-126.16% for WCO and 57.48-128.97% for ODD). Ten WCO and five ODD samples were determined, and the total concentration of 16 PAHs varied from 16.34 to 239.01 and 101.08 to 198.04 μg/kg in WCO and ODD, respectively. Among the 16 PAHs, three-ring PAHs typically contributed the most. It was also found that the acid value has a strong correlation with the concentration of OPAHs, probably because of the contribution of free fatty acids to OPAH formation. The proposed method was effective in the analysis of PAHs and OPAHs in WCO and ODD.