New and Emerging Techniques in POPs Analysis

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are environmental contaminants characterized by their persistence, long-range transport and biomagnification in food chains and bioaccumulation in humans. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzo-furans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) are commonly known as dioxins and furans and internationally recognized and the most important toxic members of POPs. The detection and confirmation of dioxins requires a high level of analytical performance.

Until recently, EU legislation required the use of HRMS based on magnetic sector analyzers as a standard approach for confirmatory analysis of dioxins in feed and food. However, recent technological advances in GC-MS/MS instruments have enabled other alternatives (Commission Regulation (EU) No 589, 2014 and Commission Regulation (EU) No 709, 2014). These analytical techniques achieve the required sensitivity and selectivity for dioxin analysis. As result, GC-MS/MS is now permitted for use in the EU to control the maximum levels for dioxins in food and feed as a full confirmatory method. When using GC-MS/MS, specific performance criteria for dioxin confirmation must be met in addition to the criteria described by the European Commission regulations.

In this presentation, the results of several experiments performed using triple quadrupole for dioxin analysis in food and feed samples is displayed. In addition, other GC- MS approaches which in the near future could be also suitable to be considered for same purposes will be noticed.

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