# Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Popcorn Corn Varieties and Popcorns
## 3 Results and Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & & & & & \\ \hline
**PAH** & **1** & **2** & **3** & **4** & **5** & **6** \\ \hline Nap & 4.58 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & 3.20 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.11 & 5.25 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.13 & 2.37 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.17 & - & 5.17 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.21 \\ Ane & 0.96 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & 0.49 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.07 & 0.79 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.09 & 0.69 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.08 & 0.28 \({}^{\text{f}}\)\(\pm\) 0.08 & 0.54 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 \\ Acn & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ Fln & 3.18 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.19 & 2.35 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.11 & 4.84 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.12 & 2.77 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.15 & 0.13 \({}^{\text{f}}\)\(\pm\) 0.07 & 4.63 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.17 \\ Ant & 21.69 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.19 & 13.72 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.29 & 27.54 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.21 & 19.53 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.22 & 3.11 \({}^{\text{f}}\)\(\pm\) 0.17 & 24.93 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.18 \\ Phen & 8.09 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.41 & 5.56 \({}^{\text{f}}\)\(\pm\) 0.61 & 9.41 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.61 & 8.98 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.55 & 11.62 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.75 & 6.62 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.49 \\ Flt & 1.90 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.15 & 1.48 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.12 & 2.27 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.14 & 1.90 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.11 & 1.38 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.09 & 1.79 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 \\ BaA & 0.96 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.07 & - & - & - & 0.32 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.06 & - \\ Pyr & 2.11 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.33 & 0.96 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.07 & 1.49 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.17 & 1.13 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.09 & 1.24 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & 1.24 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.11 \\ Chry & 0.31 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.06 & - & - & - & - & - \\ BbFA & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ BkFA & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ BaP & 0.25 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & - & - & - & - & - \\ DBaHA & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ BghiP & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ In & - & - & - & - & 1.29 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & - \\ \hline \(\sum\)PAH4 & 1.52 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 0.10 & - & - & - & 0.32 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.06 & - \\ \hline \(\sum\)PAH16 & 44.03 \({}^{\text{c}}\)\(\pm\) 0.55 & 27.76 \({}^{\text{e}}\)\(\pm\) 0.34 & 51.59 \({}^{\text{a}}\)\(\pm\) 1.48 & 37.37 \({}^{\text{d}}\)\(\pm\) 0.69 & 19.37 \({}^{\text{f}}\)\(\pm\) 0.38 & 44.92 \({}^{\text{b}}\)\(\pm\) 0.91 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* below limit of quantification.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: PAH content (\(\mu\)g/kg) in different popcorn varieties in year 2019. As can be observed, PAHs that appeared in some samples were Ane, Flu, Ant, Phen, Flt, BaA, and Pyr. The highest concentration was recorded for Ant in sample 1 in year 2020, and it was almost 70 ug/kg, while in sample 2, for the same year, it was 33.68 ug/kg. The PAH that was detected in the next highest concentration was Phen, with 29.25 ug/kg, in sample 1 for 2020. Although these concentrations are relatively high, they are still light PAHs that have a weaker effect on human health and are not included in the legislation. It appears that more PAHs were determined in samples in year 2020 than in 2019. The highest concentration of PAH in year 2019 was detected in sample 3 for Ant and it amounted to 27.54 ug/kg. Heavier compounds, such as benzo(b)fluoranthene and light chrysene, were also detected in some of the samples, and again in higher concentrations in year 2020. BbFA, BkFA, DBaA, and BghiP were not detected in any of the samples. Chrysene was recorded in sample 1 in 2019 and in a low concentration (0.31 ug/kg), but it contributed to the total concentration of PAH4, so the amount of \(\underline{\Gamma}\)PAH4 for sample 1 was 1.52 ug/kg. In 2020, samples generally contained higher concentrations of PAHs. Sample 1 in 2020 also contained Chry, at 0.56 ug/kg.