Analysis of heavy metals in food and feed at ultra low levels

By Anders Svaneborg, Eurofins Environment, Denmark

Although a misnomer, the metals arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury are often collectively called “heavy metals”.  What they have in common are their toxicity and omnipresence within our environment, mainly as a result of various industrial processes. They find their way into the food chain following their uptake from water and soil by plants and animals and as contaminants in mineral raw materials. Elevated levels of lead can lead to neurotoxicity in infants, cadmiumis primarily nephrotoxic and may cause bone demineralisation. Mercury in its organic forms is extremely toxic to the nervous system while inorganic arsenic is responsible for cancer of skin, lungs and the urinary tract. In Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006, the EU-Commission has set maximum limits for lead, cadmium and mercury in different food groups such as meat, marine products, cereals, vegetables, fruits and products thereof, fats and oils, milk, and infant formulae. The maximum levels for feed and feed ingredients are listed in Directive 2002/32/EC. Currently the EU is discussing further reducing the maximum permitted levels of cadmium in certain food groups.

A recently developed technique, High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) makes it possible to analyse for these metals in food with great specificity even at very low concentrations.

To use this very sensitive technique successfully, every single step in the process chain from sampling to final result has to be optimised. It needs high quality clean room facilities, highly-skilled staff and years of experience with trace metal determination at ultra low concentration levels. Eurofins Denmark has successfully implemented this technique on a wide variety of matrices including fish, shellfish & crustaceans, wines and alcoholic beverages, and has validated the method for food and feed in general, including cereals, meat, fish and vegetable oils, dairy products (milk, baby milk, cheese etc.), vegetables and soft drinks. The sample preparation is carried out in accordance with the European standard methods EN13804 and EN13805.

Eurofins performs mineral and heavy metal analyses in many laboratories around the world and this offer completes this offer in metals testing.

Please contact your local Eurofins representative or the author at hhh@eurofins.dk.