Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible oils, control strategies, formation mechanism and health impact; a systematic review

• Edible oils can be a source of PAH due to their lipophilic nature. • Most of the methods used to measure PAH are GC-MS. • Today, it is recommended to use newer methods such as nanotechnology for sample preparation. Edible oils are an important source of PAH contamination due to their lipophilic nature. Our study provides a comprehensive review of the available research on the cause, prevalence and levels of PAH4 compounds (Ch, B[α]A, B[α]P and B[β]F) in different edible oils in Asian, European, American and African countries from 2015 to 2024. For this purpose, databases were searched with appropriate keywords. Following the initial screening of titles and texts of manuscript, 71 articles were identified for comprehensive assessment. Full Text of these 71 articles were thoroughly reviewed and it was found that the type of edible oil, temperature, cooking time, roasting, incomplete refining, and geographical region have a significant impact on the formation of these compounds in edible oils. This study also focused on the preparation and analytical methods. The most commonly used analytical methods were GC/MS, HPLC, LC-MS/MS or UHPLC-MS/MS and GC/MS/MS, respectively. Regarding the common preparation methods, in recent years, nanotechnology-based methods have gained a special place for the concentration of this pollutant.