The Standard – April 2016

Neonicotinoid pesticides have received a lot of attention in the mainstream press as a possible cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD) in honeybees, which are crucial pollinators in many agricultural environments where their viability enables billions of dollars of agricultural commerce each year. While CCD may also have other causes, such as parasitism by the aptly named Varroa destructor mite, immunodeficiencies brought on by over-reliance on monoculture environments, and pesticides belonging to other chemical classes, it is likely that a combination of factors is responsible for the dramatic collapse. Analytical chemists have focused on neonicotinoid pesticides as a potential contributing factor. 

Parabens are a class of 4-hydroxybenzoate alkyl esters that are commonly used as preservatives in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food industries due to their bactericidal and fungicidal properties. The most common parabens used as preservative additives are methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, and butylparaben. Many products will contain more than one paraben at the 0.01-0.3% additive range to guard against a wide variety of microorganisms.¹  While parabens are not known to persist in the environment, human exposure occurs mainly through dermal absorption during application of a paraben-containing personal care product or through ingestion of food and beverages containing paraben additives.² The major metabolite of parabens in humans and animals alike is 4-hydroxybenzoic acid.

Cambridge Isotope Laboratories, Inc. (CIL) recognizes that many organic contaminants are not only environmental pollutants, but may also be food and water contaminants, and ultimately compounds of concern in human exposure studies. As our product lines continue to grow, we find our standards being used not only as “environmental” contaminant standards, but increasingly in these interrelated applications and sample matrices.  Whether you are testing PCBs in sediment, pesticides or dioxins in food and feed, PPCPs in industrial effluent, flame retardants in house dust, or PAHs and tobacco metabolites in biomonitoring studies, CIL has an extensive set of standards to meet your analytical needs.

The purpose of this interlaboratory study is to recertify fish reference materials previously evaluated in a 2006 interlaboratory study conducted by Cambridge Isotope Laboratories. Participating laboratories will be asked to characterize dioxin, PCB, flame retardant, pesticide, PAH, PCN, and other organic contaminant levels in fish tissue reference materials. The study is scheduled to take place from March to July 2016.  Preliminary results are anticipated to be available in July 2016.

We encourage any laboratory, whether commercial, governmental, or academic, to participate in this interlaboratory study. All laboratories with experience in testing Certified Reference Materials and Performance Evaluation standards are encouraged to participate in this study. Laboratories that participated in any previous Interlaboratory studies on fish tissue, soil, sediment, freeze-dried egg, cod liver oil, or fly ash are highly encouraged to participate once again.