A method for determining benzo(a)pyrene in mineral tars is described. The procedure: 1) extraction of the aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons from tar with cyclohexane, 2) separation of benzo (a) pyrene by two different thin layer chromatographic systems in succession (System I: silica gel, eluent: n-hexane-orthodichlorobenzol-pyridine 20:2:1; System II: acetylated cellulosa-alumina 1:2; eluent: ethanol-toluene-water 17:4:4), spectrophotometric assay of the hydrocarbon at 383 mμ. This procedure was used for screening samples of mineral tar for pharmaceutical use and samples of proprietaries containing mineral tar. All the tars analysed, except two, obtained with special purification procedures, proved to contain benzo (a) pyrene at concentrations ranging from 0.33 to 0.69%.
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