European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, Retieseweg, Geel, Belgium.
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2012 Nov;404(8):2475-88. doi: 10.1007/s00216-012-6398-4. Epub 2012 Sep 18.
Two of the core tasks of the European Union Reference Laboratory for Heavy Metals in Feed and Food (EU-RL-HM) are to provide advice to the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) on scientific matters and to organise proficiency tests among appointed National Reference Laboratories. This article presents the results of the 12th proficiency test organised by the EU-RL-HM (IMEP-112) that focused on the determination of total and inorganic arsenic in wheat, vegetable food and algae. The test items used in this exercise were: wheat sampled in a field with a high concentration of arsenic in the soil, spinach (SRM 1570a from NIST) and an algae candidate reference material. Participation in this exercise was open to laboratories from all around the world to be able to judge the state of the art of the determination of total and, more in particular, inorganic arsenic in several food commodities. Seventy-four laboratories from 31 countries registered to the exercise; 30 of them were European National Reference Laboratories. The assigned values for IMEP-112 were provided by a group of seven laboratories expert in the field of arsenic speciation analysis in food. Laboratory results were rated with z and ζ scores (zeta scores) in accordance with ISO 13528. Around 85 % of the participants performed satisfactorily for inorganic arsenic in vegetable food and 60 % did for inorganic arsenic in wheat, but only 20 % of the laboratories taking part in the exercise were able to report satisfactory results in the algae test material.
欧盟饲料和食品重金属参考实验室（EU-RL-HM）的两项核心任务是就科学事项向健康与消费者总司（DG SANCO）提供咨询，并组织指定的国家参考实验室进行能力验证。本文介绍了欧盟参考实验室（EU-RL-HM）组织的第 12 次能力验证（IMEP-112）的结果，该能力验证重点是测定小麦、蔬菜食品和藻类中的总砷和无机砷。本实验使用的测试项目包括：在土壤砷浓度较高的田地里采集的小麦、菠菜（NIST 的 SRM 1570a）和藻类候选参考物质。此次活动向来自世界各地的实验室开放，以评估在几种食品中测定总砷、特别是无机砷的最新技术水平。来自 31 个国家的 74 家实验室注册参加了此次活动；其中 30 家为欧洲国家参考实验室。IMEP-112 的赋值由一组在食品中砷形态分析领域具有专业知识的实验室提供。实验室结果根据 ISO 13528 用 z 和 ζ 分数（zeta 分数）进行评分。大约 85%的参与者在蔬菜食品中的无机砷方面表现令人满意，60%的参与者在小麦中的无机砷方面表现令人满意，但在参加该实验的实验室中，只有 20%能够报告在藻类测试材料中令人满意的结果。
