EN ISO 15753:2016 PDF

Overview

EN ISO 15753:2016 - "Animal and vegetable fats and oils - Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)" - specifies two validated analytical methods for the determination of 15 PAHs in animal and vegetable fats and oils: a general method and a specific method for coconut oil and vegetable oils with short‑chain fatty acids. The standard defines sampling, sample preparation, extraction, clean‑up and quantification procedures using HPLC with fluorescence detection. Milk and milk‑derived fats are excluded from the scope.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Analytes covered: 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); light and heavy PAHs are addressed.
• Methods:
  • General extraction method (acetonitrile/acetone mixture).
  • Specific method tailored for coconut oil and short‑chain fatty acid vegetable oils (two‑step extraction/clean‑up).
• Extraction & clean‑up: Liquid–liquid extraction followed by solid‑phase clean‑up on C18 reversed‑phase and Florisil bonded‑phase cartridges.
• Separation & detection: High‑performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with multi‑wavelength fluorescence detection (various excitation/emission pairs for confirmation).
• Limits of quantification (LOQ):
  • 0.2 µg/kg for most PAHs.
  • 0.3 µg/kg for fluoranthene and benzo(g,h,i)perylene.
  • 1.0 µg/kg for indeno(1,2,3‑c,d)pyrene.
• Limitations: Not quantitative for very volatile PAHs (naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene). Palm oil and olive pomace oil are unsuitable for analysis by this method due to matrix interferences (Annex B shows poor precision).
• Quality & performance: The standard includes precision data and interlaboratory test results; blank controls, recovery checks and solvent quality requirements are specified.
• Normative reference: ISO 661 (preparation of test sample) is cited.

Applications and users

• Routine testing and quality control of vegetable and animal fats and oils for PAH contamination.
• Food safety and public‑health laboratories monitoring environmental contamination and processing‑related PAHs.
• Oil producers, refiners and food manufacturers implementing product safety, HACCP and supplier qualification.
• Research laboratories studying PAH formation, fate in lipids, or mitigation strategies.
• Regulatory bodies using validated methods to support enforcement and risk assessment.

Related standards

• ISO 661 - preparation of test sample for animal and vegetable fats and oils (normative reference in EN ISO 15753:2016).

EN ISO 15753:2016 is a practical, standardized method for accurate PAH measurement in most fats and oils and supports consistent reporting, method validation and comparability between laboratories.