Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, cilt.142, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
This study was to investigate the presence of organic micropollutants (OMPs) and possible sources of PAHs in four different citrus peel oils (orange, mandarin, lemon and grapefruit) and a risk assessment was conducted. The concentrations of ΣPAH were found from 26.69 to 62 ng/g oil. Naphthalene, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, phenanthrene and fluoranthene are the dominant PAHs. The source of the PAH compounds in the samples was predominantly of pyrogenic origin. ΣPCB results range between 0.726 and 3.596 µg/kg oil, with PCB 153 and PCB 138 being the most detected in the samples. ΣOCP results were found in the range of 0.450–2.171 µg/kg oil. p,p'-DDD, p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDT and alpha-HCH among the samples was detected at a significant rate. In the citrus oils, ΣPCDD/F values were found to be 0.0073–0.3076 WHO-TEQ pg/g oil, while ΣDL-PCB values varied between 0.00259 and 0.00829 WHO-TEQ pg/g oil. None of these results exceed the limits of the European Commission and Turkish Food Codex Regulations. While PCB 77 and PCB 81 were more abundant in DL-PCBs than other congeners, this situation was 2378-TCDD and 12378-PeCDD in PCDD/Fs. In human risk assessment, HQ, HI, and TLCR values of some OMPs indicate that there is no risk of carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic hazards for both children and adults.