High Speed in Extraction of Dioxins

Germany’s dioxin scandal is worse than feared. The incident, which is the most serious in the EU in a number of years, began when fatty acids meant to be used for technical purposes, were incorrectly mixed with vegetable feed fat. These fatty acids were contaminated with dioxins. German authorities have said up to 3,000 tonnes of dioxin-contaminated animal feed additive may have been sold.

However, this scandal is not only a German problem; it is now attracting global concern. Liquid egg produced from contaminated eggs was delivered to two cake manufacturers in the UK. South Korea has become the first country to ban German pork exports. China has banned German pork meat and egg product exports, while Italy and Russia intend to carry out more inspections of eggs, milk and meat produced in Germany.

The actual dioxin scandal will result in a strong increase of laboratory work due to severe global regulation by the WHO. The determination of dioxins, especially the extraction process is very time consuming if classical Soxhlet extraction is applied.

Pressurised solvent extraction with Büchi’s SpeedExtractor speeds up the extraction process. With its parallel operation it is possible to finish the complete dioxin analysis within one day. This speed increase is a big advantage for the authorities which have to make decisions about closing farms, destroying animals and removing products.

Learn more about SpeedExtractor on http://j.mp/16EFivi.