Determining dioxin-like compounds in selected Korean food

To measure the levels of dioxin-like compounds, pork, mackerel, cheese and milk were analyzed. The food samples were obtained at three different markets in Seoul. All the samples were animal origin and their lipid contents ranged from 4% to 34%. After extraction, extracts were cleaned up by sulfuric acid impregnated silica gel, purified on a series of silica gel, alumina, carbon column chromatography and then analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry. The levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans for pork, mackerel, cheese and milk were 0.0008, 0.8663, 0.002 and 0.0236 pgTEQ/g wet weight, respectively. In addition, the levels of non-ortho coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls for pork, mackerel, cheese and milk were 0.0041, 1.5781, 0.0259 and 0.0353 pgTEQ/g wet weight, respectively. Among food samples analyzed, pork showed the lowest level of dioxin-like compounds.