6 replies to this topic

[QualityStuff]

Morning All,

 

I have a question relating to testing heavy metals, specifically Cadmium, Mercury, Lead and Arsenic in feed.

 

I work for a pet food ingredients company where we sell proteins for further processing to the pet food manufacturers.

 

A big topic at the moment for us is heavy metals testing as it is the key focus of a couple of major customers. We have been testing our products for the 4 heavy metals and reviewing the results against 2002/32/EC and the respective updates (EC 2017/2229, EC 2015/186, etc.) however it has been at the moisture of the product (around 82%) not 12%.

 

Our lab sub-contracts out to their sister site (I believe) and their test consists of Total Lead, Total Mercury, Arsenic and Total Cadmium. I have spoken to them about testing our products (ingredients) at 12% moisture content however this is not a service they can offer us. 

 

2002/32/EC states in their annexes as the table header a "Maximum content in mg/kg (ppm) relative to a feed with a moisture content of 12 %". These limits, in my opinion, are related to finished products and not ingredients. However we want to adhere to the limits in relation to our product.

 

Would this be possible to simulate or calculate these for ingredients to 12%. I have been doing a lot of reading however cannot think of an answer.

 

Any help would be very much appreciated :)

 

Thanks

QS

[Charles.C]

Morning All,

 

I have a question relating to testing heavy metals, specifically Cadmium, Mercury, Lead and Arsenic in feed.

 

I work for a pet food ingredients company where we sell proteins for further processing to the pet food manufacturers.

 

A big topic at the moment for us is heavy metals testing as it is the key focus of a couple of major customers. We have been testing our products for the 4 heavy metals and reviewing the results against 2002/32/EC and the respective updates (EC 2017/2229, EC 2015/186, etc.) however it has been at the moisture of the product (around 82%) not 12%.

 

Our lab sub-contracts out to their sister site (I believe) and their test consists of Total Lead, Total Mercury, Arsenic and Total Cadmium. I have spoken to them about testing our products (ingredients) at 12% moisture content however this is not a service they can offer us. 

 

2002/32/EC states in their annexes as the table header a "Maximum content in mg/kg (ppm) relative to a feed with a moisture content of 12 %". These limits, in my opinion, are related to finished products and not ingredients. However we want to adhere to the limits in relation to our product.

 

Would this be possible to simulate or calculate these for ingredients to 12%. I have been doing a lot of reading however cannot think of an answer.

 

Any help would be very much appreciated :)

 

Thanks

QS

 

Hi QS,

 

Yes, it is possible to calculate/convert.

 

See attached file  -

 

 moisture basis conversion.pdf   79.6KB   45 downloads

[QualityStuff]

Thanks Charles - much appreciated :)

 

QS

[CMHeywood]

The conversion that Charles C. offers will calculate what the new percentage is of a component when moisture (water) has been reduced.  Do you need to be concerned about any heavy metal compounds in the water?

 

Would you be able to test your product that has been dried to 12% moisture?  This would reduce the water content and leave any heavy metals that were dissolved in the water.

 

What the conversion basically does:

18 part solids and 82 parts water  = 100 parts total  100% = 1.0

18 parts solids and 12 parts water = 30 parts total 30% = 0.30

 

If component = 50ppm at 82% water   50/1.0 = 50ppm

Component at 12$ water = 50/0.3 = 167ppm

[Charles.C]

The conversion that Charles C. offers will calculate what the new percentage is of a component when moisture (water) has been reduced.  Do you need to be concerned about any heavy metal compounds in the water?

 

Would you be able to test your product that has been dried to 12% moisture?  This would reduce the water content and leave any heavy metals that were dissolved in the water.

 

What the conversion basically does:

18 part solids and 82 parts water  = 100 parts total  100% = 1.0

18 parts solids and 12 parts water = 30 parts total 30% = 0.30

 

If component = 50ppm at 82% water   50/1.0 = 50ppm

Component at 12$ water = 50/0.3 = 167ppm

 

Sorry but result of above calculation appears to differ from that given by the formula in Post 2, ie P2 =  (100-12)/(100-82)x50x10^(-4) = 88/18x50x10^(-4) = 244x10^(-4) % = 244 ppm

[QualityStuff]

Hi CM,

Thanks for your post. No it is the heavy metals in the product not he water itself although the product has been swimming around in a lot of it 😀. It is really good to see what it could.be based for water no doubt that will be coming down the line next...

Charles' post seems to have done what I needed to do as I don't think it will be easy to dry it down to 12% in a controlled manner.

Thanks again both
QS

[CMHeywood]

Yes, my calculation is incorrect.

 

12 parts moisture out of 30 parts is 40% moisture, not 12%.