Dioxin & PCB Testing and other Pollutants
Neotron provides an advanced range of analytical methods to determine dioxin, PCB, and a wide range of organic micropollutants in your food and feed products.
Persistent organic pollutants, or POPs, are chemicals very resistant to decomposition (some remain in the soil for up to twenty years) that have toxic properties.
Due to their characteristics of persistence and toxicity they are very harmful to human health (some are classified as poisons, others as carcinogens) and the environment. They accumulate in living organisms, they are present in the atmosphere, air, and water, and their transmission is also due to migratory species. Their danger lies in their growing concentration in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Pollutants Typologies
The twelve priority POPs are:
- Dioxins
- Furan
- PCBs (Polychlorobiphenyls)
- Aldrin
- Chlordane
- Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)
- Dieldrin
- Endrin
- Heptachlor
- Mirex
- Toxaphen
- Hexachlorobenzene
In May 2009, the following nine commercial products listed below have been added to Stockholm Convention:
- Perfluoroctane sulfonate (PFOS)
- Pentabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE)
- Octabromodiphenyl ether (OBDE)
- Chlordecone
- Hexabromobiphenyl
- Lindane
- Alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane
- Beta-hexachlorocyclohexane
- Pentachlorobenzene
The Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, agreed at a conference held in Stockolm from 22nd to 23rd May 2001, aims at their elimination and reduction in usage.
Other categories of Pollutants
Phtalates
Phthalates are a family of chemical compounds used in the plastics industry as plasticisers, that is as substances added to polymers in order to improve its flexibility and moldability. We can see them in everyday objects, such as food packaging, toys, medical appliances, pipes, cables, wallpaper, baby products. PVC is the main plastic material (in terms of production volumes) were they are used.
Our Analytical Services
Our laboratory’s advanced equipment allows to follow and develop highly sensitive and selective analytical techniques for the determination of organic micropollutants at the ultra trace-level. These include:
- High Resolution Mass Spectrometer (HRGC/HRMS);
- Triple-Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer for GC-MS/MS applications
- Power-Prep clean-up system;
- Rapid extractor for solids with low solvent use ( ASE200, ASE300).
- Freeze dryer
Legislative References
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs.
- Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin and amending Council Directive 91/414/EECText with EEA relevance.
- DIRECTIVE 2002/32/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 7 May 2002
on undesirable substances in animal feed.
- REGULATION (EC) No 767/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 July 2009 on the placing on the market and use of feed, amending European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 and repealing Council Directive 79/373/EEC, Commission Directive 80/511/EEC, Council Directives 82/471/EEC, 83/228/EEC, 93/74/EEC, 93/113/EC and 96/25/EC and Commission Decision 2004/217/EC.
- Commission Recommendation of 17 August 2006 on the presence of deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, T-2 and HT-2 and fumonisins in products intended for animal feeding.
- Systematic participation in the Proficiency Test provides external evidence of the performance of the applied test methods. Contact us to receive the results of the latest P-tests.
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) include a wide range (about 500) of chemical substances with two or more condensed benzene rings. Because of their lower volatility they are not considered as VOCs, with some exceptions (naphthalene) and they are classified as semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC). PAH consisting in three to five rings may occur in the atmosphere both as gas and as particles, while those characterized by five or more rings tend to occur mainly in solid form. They are characterized by their low degree of water solubility, high capacity to adhere to organic matter and good solubility in lipids and in many organic solvents. Several PAHs were classified by IARC (1987) as “probable” or “possible carcinogens to humans” while benzo(a)pyrene was recently (2008) re-classified in category 1 as “carcinogenic to humans”. Among those commonly found in environmental matrices, are bezo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(j)fluoranthene and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene.
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Services
Food and Feed
Neotron is a leading European provider of analytical services for the food and feed industry. We provide advanced technological methods to test the chemical, microbiological, and molecular composition of food products for our clients.
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