Spectroscopy published an article last month summarizing Brooks Rand Labs’ 2013 Interlaboratory Comparison Study for the Determination of Arsenic and Arsenic Species in Rice, Kelp, and Apple Juice. The purpose of the study was to provide a reliable means for laboratories to evaluate their competency, to assess the intercomparability of the data generated, and to look for any correlation trends between the results and the analytical procedures used by the participating laboratories.
The arsenic (As) contaminant found in food products can be sourced from both naturally occurring As and anthropogenic As, such as arsenical pesticides. The toxicity of arsenic present in the food is specific to the forms present and is subject to numerous factors, which are not easily predicted. It is, therefore, vitally important to examine the various As species in different food types when evaluating toxicity.
The data from the 2013 study demonstrated that there was generally good agreement between the labs reporting arsenic speciation data for food matrices; however, further method development needs to be carried out in order to achieve a higher level of consistency across multiple laboratories worldwide using different analytical procedures. For further information, download the article or view the original report.
As a leader in the metals testing arena, Brooks Rand Labs has extensive experience in the determination of inorganic arsenic in many food products. Contact us for a quote today!