A validated liquid chromatographic method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in honey after homogeneous liquid–liquid extraction using hydrophilic acetonitrile and sodium chloride as mass separating agent

• A SALLE technique was developed for the determination of PAHs in honey.
• The extraction procedure was rapid, simple with high efficiency.
• The figures of merit of the method fulfil the EU legislation criteria.

In the present report, a simple and cost-effective method for the determination of twelve US EPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in honey samples after salting-assisted liquid–liquid extraction and UHPLC with fluorescence detection is proposed. The sample treatment is based on the usage of hydrophilic acetonitrile as extraction solvent and its phase separation under high salinity conditions. Due to the high sugar content of the samples the phase separation is promoted effortlessly. Several parameters affecting the extraction efficiency and method sensitivity including the concentration of the honey samples, the type and volume of the extraction solvent, the type and quantity of the inorganic salt, extraction time and centrifugation time was systematically investigated. The method was validated in-house according to the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC guidelines. The limit of detection (LOD) of the method lay between 0.02 and 0.04 ng mL−1 (corresponding to 0.08 and 0.16 ng g−1) which are close to the quality criteria established by European Regulation (EC) 836/2011 concerning the PAHs in foodstuffs. The mean analytical bias (expressed as relative recoveries) in all spiking levels was acceptable being in the range of 54–118% while the relative standard deviation (RSD) was lower than 19%. The proposed method has been satisfactorily applied for the analysis of the selected PAHs residues in various honey samples obtained from Greek region.