Final report on APMP.QM-S10: Elements in food supplement

APMP.QM-S10 was coordinated by Government Laboratory, Hong Kong SAR (GLHK) unDer the auspices of the Inorganic Analysis Working Group (IAWG) of the Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité De Matière (CCQM). Fourteen national metrology institutes (NMIs) or Designated institutes (DIs) registered for the examination of zinc, manganese, calcium and magnesium. All institutes submitted the results for zinc and manganese, and twelve institutes submitted the results for calcium and magnesium. The supplementary comparison was Designed to enable participating institutes to Demonstrate their measurement capabilities in measuring the mass fractions of the analytes at mg/kg levels in a test sample of food supplement by various analytical techniques. For examination of zinc, manganese, calcium and magnesium, most of the participants used microwave-assisted acid digestion methods for sample dissolution. A variety of instrumental techniques including inductively coupled plasmas mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), isotope dilution inductively coupled plasmas mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasmas optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), and instrumental neutron action analysis (INAA) were employed by the participants for Determination. For this supplementary comparison, inorganic core capabilities have been Demonstrated by the concerned participants with respect to methods including ICP-MS (without isotope dilution), ID-ICP-MS, ICP-OES, FAAS and INAA on the Determination of elements (zinc, manganese, calcium and magnesium) in a food matrix of food supplement. Generally, the participants' results of APMP.QM-S10 were found to be consistent for all measurands according to their equivalence statements. Except with some extreme values, most of the participants obtained the values of di/U(di) within ± 1 for the measurands. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).