High Resolution GC-MS Method Analyzes Dioxins in Animal Feed

In response to a recent discovery of dioxins in animal feed produced in Germany, Phenomenex (Torrance, California), working in collaboration with Vista Analytical (El Dorado Hills, California), has published a new method for the analysis of dioxins in animal feed and tissue using high-resolution gas chromatography with mass spec detection (HRGCMS).

Dioxins enter the environment, and as a result, the food supply, when organic materials undergo combustion in waste incineration. On December 27, 2010, German authorities alerted the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) that more than two thousand tons of fat used in feed products were highly contaminated with dioxins, threatening the entire food chain. As a precaution, South Korea, Slovakia, China, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus temporarily banned imports of animal products from Germany during the month of January.

“While dioxin contamination is generally on the decline due to aggressive regulatory action, we can still see accidents, such as the one in Germany,” said Sky Countryman, manager of applications and applied technology for Phenomenex, in a statement. “Robust analytical testing procedures are still in demand for the determination of potential dioxin threats in both feed and animal fat.”

Phenomenex has used this method to analyze non-organic chicken feed, as well as to study fish from the Mississippi River and Great Lakes and shrimp from various international sources. In addition to analyzing dioxins, the method also can be used to monitor dioxin-like compounds, dibenzofurans (PCFDs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for the overall toxic equivalent (TEQ) of a particular sample.

The analysis was published on the Phenomenex website on January 31, 2011, accompanied by a technical note on the HRGCMS method.