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Environmental and Emerging Contaminants Subgroup |
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Dear Visitors,
Welcome to the Internet webpage of the Subgroup ‘Environmental and Emerging Contaminants’ (formerly Subgroup ‘Unknowns’)!
The Subgroup deals with topics associated with environmental, adulteration- and packaging-related contaminants. It also considers specific emerging issues which may be of critical safety concern. However, the mycotoxin issues are not managed by the Subgroup ‘Environmental and Emerging Contaminants’ as this field of expertise is under the responsibility of the Mycotoxins Community.
Feel free to submit any topic you would like the Subgroup to pay attention to, and enjoy your visit in our webpage. |
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Status of AOAC Study on PAH's in Seafood |
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Minutes of the meeting Subgroup ‘Unknowns’
AOAC Annual Meeting & Exposition (Las Vegas, NV), Planet Hollywood, room Melrose 2
Tuesday 2 October 2012, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
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Attendees: Brad Barrett, Xu-Liang Cao, Michael Conway, Jo Marie Cook, Stefan Ehling, Thomas Gude, Jana Hajslova, Mikko Hofsommer, Steve Holroyd, Li Huang, Julie Kowalski, Steve Lehotay, Katerina Mastovska, Robert Packer, Tom Phillips, Jana Pulkrabova, Don Shelly, Len Sidisky, Brenda Snodgrass, Jian Wang, Sara Williams, Milena Zachariasova
Chair: Thierry Delatour
Katerina Mastovska (co-Study Director with Wendy Sorenson & Jana Hajslova) presented the results of the Collaborative Study for the determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seafood, and reminded the background of the project as well as the scope of the method. The AOAC project was intended to respond to the oil spill in Florida (2010) by providing an analytical tool for the control of PAHs in seafood. Nineteen (19) analytes were included in the scope of the method, and the matrices of interest were mussel, oyster and shrimp. The method was a GC-MS approach based on ‘Rapid method for simultaneous determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl esters (PBDEs) in fish and seafood using GC-TOFMS’ by L. Drabova, K. Kalachova, J. Pulkrabova, T. Cajka, V. Kocourek & J. Hajslova developed within the European project CONffIDENCE. Ten (10) laboratories from various affiliations in Europe, Canada and the USA out of sixteen (16) completed the study. Mean recovery was in the ranges: 77.3-107% for mussel, 71.7-94.6% for oyster, and 83.8-115% for shrimp. Reproducibility (RSDR) was in the ranges: 4.2-32.5% for mussel, 8.4-31.8% for oyster, and 5.4-29.4% for shrimp. HORRAT was in the ranges: 0.17-1.13 for mussel, 0.34-1.39 for oyster, and 0.22-1.34 for shrimp.
The Chairman gave an update regarding the project on melamine and cyanuric acid. The background and history of the AOAC project was reminded, and the running activities at ISO/IDF and CEN were shared for consideration. It was pointed that the working group CEN/TC 275/WG 13 was currently running a project with the intention to carry out a Collaborative Study for the officialization of a LC-MS/MS method for the quantitative determination of melamine and cyanuric acid. The matrices in the scope of the CEN/TC 275/WG 13 project are whole milk, milk powder and skimmed milk powder, milk- and soya-based infant formula, soy- and wheat-based products (drinks, biscuits, vegetarian products), cacao-based products (chocolate, chocolate milk, candy bars) and milk-based sweets (toffee). The dairy-related matrices fit with ISO/IDF needs and, consequently, the outcome of the CEN/TC 275/WG 13 project will be adopted by ISO/IDF. As the scope of the AOAC project is similar to the running CEN/TC 275/WG 13 project, the participants agreed to align these two projects in order to end up with a single international standard across the four organizations (AOAC, CEN, ISO, IDF).
It was reminded that the Subgroup ‘Unknowns’ deals with topics related to environmental, adulteration- and packaging-related contaminants, as well as any emerging issue which may be of
food safety concern. In that regard, the new name of the Subgroup, namely ‘Environmental and Emerging Contaminants’ will be official in the documents.
Potential new activities were discussed, and topics such as bisphenol A, novel flame retardants, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanote (PFO), packaging-related contaminants were mentioned. It was emphasized that mycotoxin issues are out of the scope of the Subgroup ‘Environmental and Emerging Contaminants’, as they are managed in the Mycotoxins Community.
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Melamine Method to be Submitted for First Action! |
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The AOAC Community on Chemical Contaminants and Residues in Food is planning to launch a collaborative study for determination of melamine in foodstuffs.
The features and performance criteria of the method suitable for the collaborative study are:
- Confirmatory method based on mass spectrometry
- Quantification by isotope dilution
- Limit of detection ≤ 0.05 mg/kg
- Reproducibility < 15% and recovery in the range 80-110%
- Preferably, the method includes the determination of cyanuric acid
Method should be designed to be able to demonstrate milk-powdered infant formula compliance at 1 mg/kg, and other food products compliance at 2.5 mg/kg. Simple approaches to sample preparation will receive special attention.
The AOAC Community on Chemical Contaminants and Residues in Food invites scientists with an expertise in food contaminant analysis to participate. If your laboratory would like to participate in the study, contact Dr. Delatour.
Submit your contact information to the chairman of the Subgroup Unknowns:
Dr. Thierry Delatour, thierry.delatour@rdls.nestle.com
Nestlé Research Centre, Quality and Safety Department,
Vers-chez-les-Blanc, CH – 1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland.
Fax: +41.21.785.8553;
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| See http://www.aoac.org/chem_contam/cc_homepage.html and the Community website for more information about the process. |
We have also attached the current roster of the Unknowns Subgroup. Please double check that your information is correct and to see if your application for the subgroup has been received. If you have not filled out the application, please use the attached registration form and send it back to me by email so I can forward it to the Community Chair.
And finally, we anticipate that you may have colleagues or other contacts who may be interested in joining the Unknowns Subgroup. Please forward this email to them along with the registration form so I can add them to our roster. AOAC membership is not required to participate in the subgroup.
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