Abstract

Six laboratories in four European countries (GER, GB, S, NL) have conducted an interlaboratory comparison study on the analysis of dioxins in cow's milk. The study comprised a cross comparison of standards and the analysis of the 2,3,7,8-substituted congeners of PCDD/Fs in three different milk pools (no spiking). Participants used their own procedures and methods for the determination of the fat content and PCDD/F levels in biological samples, all using non-polar gas chromatography and medium to high resolution mass spectrometry (RP=3.000–10.000). Quantification was performed by the use of a common quantification standard mixture of the native PCDD/Fs (4 labs) or the own quantification standards (2 labs). Within-laboratory reproducibilities for the determination of the major toxic congeners and the total TCDD toxicity equivalence (TE) level were between 2 and 16% (RSD) with a mean variation of 6% on TE basis. The interlaboratory comparison for TE values agreed within 10–17% (RSD) for TE values between 10.4 and 2.8 pg TE/g milk fat. Reliabilities of both participants and the common standards were difficult to assess and probably less good than expected. Differences in these standards were typically within 25% of expected concentrations up to 50% for some congeners by some laboratories.

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