POPs and PAHs in fish oil-based food supplements at the Czech market

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to assess concentrations of three groups of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 44 fish oil-based food supplements, to estimate their daily intake by consumers and, to evaluate the compliance of the oil samples with the oil origin declarations (cod liver oil or fish oil). The concentrations of ∑PCBs (7 congeners), OCPs (19 compounds, represented mainly by ∑DDTs), ∑PBDEs (10 congeners), and ∑PAHs (16 compounds) found in samples ranged between 0.15–55.7 µg kg−1, 0.93–72.8 µg kg−1, 0.28–27.5 µg kg−1, and 0.32–51.9 µg kg−1, respectively. Besides, the authenticity of the oils was assessed based on the fingerprints obtained by DART–HRMS, an ambient mass spectrometry technique. Four samples declared as fish oil were probably prepared from cod liver oil, which is much cheaper. Furthermore, these samples contained elevated concentrations of halogenated POPs when compared to supplements produced from fish oil.