Dioxin and Furan Standard Mixtures Made for GC-MS/MS Methods

Dioxins and furans are a class of strictly regulated toxic compounds that have historically been analyzed using high-resolution GC-MS (HRGC-MS). With recent improvements to technology, methodologies using GC-MS/MS have become more commonly used for dioxin and furan testing, notably with the European Union approving the use of GC-MS/MS for confirmatory analysis of dioxins and furans in food and feed, and more recently the development of Method 16130 as an alternative to the traditional HRGC-MS Method 1613. Unfortunately, these new methodologies continue to use the same analytical standards developed more than 30 years ago.

US EPA Method 1613 was initially published in 1989, with revision B promulgated in 1994, which is still in use today. The method was developed specifically for use on HRGC-MS systems, and with the sensitivity levels achievable at that time. The standards used in that method have not been updated since that 1989 original printing. Since that time, CIL has developed many new dioxin and furan standards, including several non-2,3,7,8-containing isotope-labeled surrogate standards, which have been incorporated into many laboratory-developed methods. In 2014 the European Union approved the use of GC-MS/MS systems for official confirmatory methods of dioxin and furan levels in food and feed. At that time CIL worked with leading dioxin-testing experts to develop new standard mixtures which would overcome the limitations of the old 1613 standards and allow more robust analysis using the new GC-MS/MS methods. These new mixtures include:

All 17 “2,3,7,8-containing” isotopically labeled standards for use as extraction standards to update the original mix of only 15 compounds in the Method 1613 “Labeled Compound Spiking Solution.” This allows true isotope dilution for all TEF dioxin and furan analytes.
“Non-2,3,7,8-containing” isotopically labeled injection standards to supplement and replace the original “internal standard(s)” which includes one of the TEF dioxins, 1,2,3,7,8,9-hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.
Use of ¹³C₆-1,2,3,4-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin cleanup standard rather than the difficult ³⁷Cl₄-2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.
Ten (10) calibration series levels with native concentration ranges from 10 fg/µL to 200 pg/µL TCDD.
Calibration series with relative native concentrations 1:2:5 for tetra/penta:hexa/hepta:octa homolog levels.
Spiking solutions at standard concentration and 10x concentration to meet the needs of labs with smaller or larger demands.

One of the biggest improvements is the new 10-point calibration series. These calibration levels hold several advantages to the old 1613 calibrants, including:

10 calibration levels developed to cover a larger dynamic range, allowing for low level calibration ranges for matrices such as food/feed or blood/serum, as well as higher calibration levels for environmental matrices or samples containing higher contamination levels.
Extra-low calibration levels (10 – 20 fg/µL TCDD) which may be used to establish minimum detection levels for GC-MS/MS instruments.
All 17 “2,3,7,8-containing” labeled standards, and the new “non-2,3,7,8-containing” internal standards.
Use of ¹³C₆-1,2,3,4-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin cleanup standard rather than ³⁷Cl₄-TCDD.
Labeled components at 10/20/50 pg/μL matching native analytes for more accurate verification at lower detection levels.

If you are currently using GC-MS/MS for dioxin analysis, or planning to start using it, please consider the advantages of using the CIL Dioxin and Furan Food/Feed/QQQ standards in your testing program.