Dec 4, 2013
Arsenic is present in the environment as a naturally occurring element or as a result of contamination from human activity, and is found in either the organic or more toxic inorganic form. In an effort to understand and manage arsenic-related risks associated with the consumption of rice and rice products in the US marketplace, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently (September 2013) released the analytical results for inorganic arsenic in approximately 1,100 new samples of rice and rice products (in addition to the approximately 200 samples that the FDA initially tested and released findings for in September 2012). The FDA concluded that the levels of inorganic arsenic found in its testing were too low to cause immediate or short-term adverse health effects. The FDA’s work going forward will center on long-term risk and ways to manage it with a focus on long-term exposure. Download a copy of the most recent FDA report.
Oct 4, 2013
Michelle Briscoe, President of Brooks Rand Labs, and Frank McFarland, Vice President of Quality, will be traveling to sunny Scottsdale, Arizona, October 6-9, 2013, for the 76th Annual American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL) Meeting. This meeting provides a unique opportunity for environmental and food science professionals to share industry solutions to unique issues, and also provides educational opportunities by experienced and knowledgeable industry leaders.
Tiffany Stilwater, BRL’s Client Services Manager, will be attending the 11th Biannual State of the San Francisco Estuary Conference in Oakland, CA, from October 29-30. The Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) is partnering with the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) to host the RMP Annual Meeting in conjunction with the State of the Estuary Conference. The 20/20 Vision: Past Reflections, Future Directions will be the conference focus through professional technical presentations, interactive discussions and educational outreach programs all designed to ensure the health of the San Francisco Estuary.
Sep 3, 2013
Brooks Rand Labs organized an interlaboratory comparison study for Arsenic Speciation in Food and Juice, in which 41 labs from around the world participated in. The study was initiated to provide a reliable means for laboratories to evaluate their methods for the analysis of difference forms of arsenic in rice, kelp, and apple juice. Click here to download the report for the study.
The results of this study were also presented at the AOAC Annual Meeting in Chicago on August 27th (download presentation). Brooks Rand Labs plans to conduct this study on an annual basis; if interested in participating in future studies contact BRL President, Michelle Briscoe.
Aug 16, 2013
Ethylmercury is a major component of thimerosal, a vaccine preservative, and it has neurotoxic effects that are similar to those of methylmercury, but its tissue deposition and clearance rates in organisms are not well-understood. In order to better understand the tissue deposition patterns of mercury originating from vaccines, a rapid, sensitive, simple analytical method for determining mercury species in biological tissues was developed at Brooks Rand Labs and our own Dr. Joel Creswell presented our findings at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. To download the poster click here or contact us to learn more about our specialized analytical services for the determination of mercury and mercury species in biological tissues.
Aug 16, 2013
The AOAC Annual Meeting brings us science-based research from the top scientists in the world, technical information about changes and advances in methodology, and access to techniques and applications, for the chemical analysis of food, beverages, and other consumer products.
Visit us in Chicago August 25-28 for the AOAC’s 127th Annual Meeting & Exposition where Brooks Rand Labs President and co-chair of the AOAC Metals Subgroup, Michelle Briscoe, will be giving a talk in the “New Blood 2013: Developing Methods for Detection of Chemical Contaminants” session. Ms. Briscoe’s presentation will report on the largest interlaboratory comparison study performed to-date for the analysis of arsenic speciation in food and beverages. The full report will be available in next month’s newsletter… STAY TUNED!
Jun 14, 2013
At a press conference during a meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers from Monmouth University claimed that they had found as much as 12 milligrams of lead per kilogram of rice imported from Taiwan and China, or 40 times what the FDA considers a tolerable level.
They then speculated that the use of untreated industrial wastewater and sewage in irrigation was the likely source of the contamination.
This prompted numerous major media outlets to report that some imported rice may have dangerous levels of lead, triggering widespread concerns about food safety both in the US and abroad.
However, Monmouth’s results, acquired using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), were several orders of magnitude greater than previous research on lead in rice – provoking skepticism and even denials from Taiwanese officials.
When analyzed by the more precise technique of inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), it was determined that all of the samples had less than 1 milligram of lead per kilogram of rice and the researchers from Monmouth have since retracted their findings.
In an unrelated matter, a story in the New York Times last month regarding legitimate concerns over rice contaminated with cadmium served at restaurants in China inadvertently used the wrong unit of mass when they reported that
“One seafood restaurant served rice with an average 0.4 micrograms of cadmium per kilogram, double the maximum permitted by government standards.”
Cadmium concentrations this low would not normally be a matter of concern and are well within even the most stringent regulations.
Once the error was brought to their attention the article was revised to correctly reflect the concentration as 0.4 milligrams of cadmium per kilogram (see the bottom of the article for the correction), a level sufficient to raise health concerns.
Apr 30, 2013
During the American Chemical Society’s 245th National Meeting & Exposition last month in New Orleans, our own Dr. Joel Creswell presented data demonstrating the effectiveness of our method to determine various arsenic species in rice samples using high performance liquid chromatography and inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS), resulting in an extremely precise method with detection limits of less than three parts-per-billion (ppb) for each of the relevant arsenic species in rice and other food samples.
When fields are inundated with water to grow rice, arsenic (which can be naturally occurring or the result of contamination due to prior pesticide use, pollution, etc.) in the soil is readily dissolved and then taken up by this important food crop because of its chemical similarity to phosphorus, a critical element in plant growth. Even domestically or organically grown rice has consistently been shown to contain levels of arsenic that often exceed 100 ppb, which might be of some concern to populations that consume a significant amount of rice in their diet or in proportion to their body mass (i.e., toddlers).
It is already well established that inorganic species of arsenic (trivalent and pentavalent arsenic salts) can cause cancer, while organoarsenic compounds are considered to be relatively harmless. Distinguishing between these types of arsenic compounds in rice and rice products is critical to evaluating the potential impact on human health.
Brooks Rand Labs offers an accurate and precise analytical method to measure the concentrations of inorganic arsenic in rice and other food products to researchers, suppliers, and purchasers. Contact us today to learn more!
Feb 26, 2013
When mercury is released into the environment it can be transformed from inorganic mercury into the far more toxic form of methylmercury. Scientists have known for decades that bacteria are largely responsible for the methylation of mercury, but the precise mechanism by which this occurs has been a mystery. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently identified two genes that appear to allow certain strains of bacteria to methylate mercury. This exciting discovery may help lead to ways of limiting methylmercury production in the environment.
Feb 16, 2013
Organized by The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, a not-for-profit educational corporation (comprised of the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh), the Pittcon Conference & Expo attracts more than 17,000 attendees representing industry, academia, and government from over 90 countries. Visit us during Pittcon 2013, March 17-21 in Philadelphia, PA, at booth #1328 where we’ll be exhibiting our highly specialized laboratory instrumentation for mercury analysis. Our MERX modular mercury analyzers have proven to be among the most accurate, precise, and reliable analyzers available for the determination of low-level mercury and mercury species in environmental samples. Our analyzers are actively in use at some of the best universities, research institutions, and public and private laboratories around the world. Visit us at Pittcon or contact us today to learn more!
Feb 3, 2013
There is a growing awareness regarding the levels of arsenic in many types of food and beverages. However, the relative toxicity of the arsenic depends largely upon the species of arsenic that is present. Regulators and manufacturers are increasingly interested in distinguishing between the various species of arsenic found in food and beverages, and not just the total arsenic concentrations, when addressing human health concerns. The analytical techniques for determining the specific arsenic species in food and beverages can vary considerably from laboratory to laboratory. On behalf of the AOAC Contaminant Community, Brooks Rand Labs is conducting an arsenic speciation interlaboratory comparison study. To learn more about this study and register to participate, please return this form by March 8 or call 206-632-6206.
