Comprehensive determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Chinese herbal medicines by solid phase extraction and gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

A simple and highly sensitive gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) method combined with solid-phase extraction cleanup was established for the comprehensive determination of 16 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in various kinds of Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs). A solid-phase extraction (SPE) purification strategy, including three parallel procedures, was developed depending on sample type, and satisfactory purification performances were achieved for all selected CHMs. The limits of detection ranged from 0.12 to 1.08 μg kg –1 for the analyzed PAHs. The average recoveries were in the range of 65.9 % to 100.8 %, except for naphthalene (43.8 %–75.9 %), and the relative standard deviations were ≤12.8 %. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of PAHs in 24 CHMs including five roots, three stems, four flowers, two fruits, four seeds, three leaves, and three barks. In the samples analyzed, all 16 PAHs are present. Their sum ranges from 21.1 to 2236.3 μg kg –1 . The entire procedure was shown to be effective and conveniently fast, and may serve as an alternative screening protocol for the determination of PAHs in CHMs. Graphical Abstract Representative CHMs of seven types and the purification performances compared before and after cleanup