Stepping-up accurate quantification of chlorinated paraffins: Successful certification of the first matrix reference material.

BACKGROUND: Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are industrial chemicals categorised as persistent organic pollutants because of their toxicity, persistency and tendency to long-range transport, bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Despite having been the subject of environmental attention for decades, analytical methods for CPs still struggle reaching a sufficient degree of accuracy. Among the issues negatively impacting the quantification of CPs, the unavailability of well-characterised standards, both as pure substances and as matrix (certified) reference materials (CRMs), has played a major role. The focus of this study was to provide a matrix CRM as quality control tool to improve the comparability of CPs measurement results. RESULTS: We present the process of certification of ERM®-CE100, the first fish reference material assigned with certified values for the mass fraction of short-chain and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively). The certification was performed in accordance with ISO 17034:2016 and ISO Guide 35:2017, with the value assignment step carried out via an intercomparison of laboratories of demonstrated competence in CPs analysis and applying procedures based on different analytical principles. After confirmation of the homogeneity and stability of the CRM, two certified values were assigned for SCCPs, depending on the calibrants used: 31 ± 9 µg kg-1 and 23 ± 7 µg kg-1. The MCCPs certified value was established as 44 ± 17 µg kg-1. All assigned values are relative to wet weight in the CRM that was produced as a fish paste to enhance similarity to routine biota samples. SIGNIFICANCE AND NOVELTY: The fish tissue ERM-CE100 is the first matrix CRM commercially available for the analysis of CPs, enabling analytical laboratories to improve the accuracy and the metrological traceability of their measurements. The certified CPs values are based on results obtained by both gas and liquid chromatography coupled with various mass spectrometric techniques, offering thus a broad validity to laboratories employing different analytical methods and equipment.

Occurrence, patterns, and sources of hazardous organic chemicals in edible insects and insect-based food from the Japanese market.

Due to the growth of the world's population, edible insects have been considered a valuable alternative food source for humans. Japan has a long-lasting traditional culture of eating wild insects, a practice that has recently evolved towards farming and selling reared edible insects. In this study, we investigated the contamination loads, profiles, and possible sources of organophosphorus flame retardants (PFRs), plasticizers, and selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in insect foods available on the Japanese market. Medians of selected POPs in the dataset were up to 1.3 ng/g lw, while medians of PFRs and plasticizers were 12 and 486 ng/g ww, respectively. CB-153, p,p'-DDE, BDE-47, tris(1-chloro-2-propyl)-phosphate (TCIPP), and bis(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) were the dominant compounds in the analyzed samples, a pattern comparable to previous investigations on organic chemicals in edible insects. Our overall results suggest that POPs were likely accumulated by the insects during rearing or from the wild environment, while PFRs and plasticizers derived from post-harvesting industrial handling and seasoning. Differences in pollution patterns and the absence of correlations between PFR and plasticizer loads in insects and in food packaging suggest that the transfer of contaminants from food contact materials is not a main source of contamination.