Dr Ehrenstorfer: what’s new this month – September 2021
With many countries across the world entering harvest time, it seems appropriate to consider all the brilliant scientific work that goes into safeguarding our natural environment and the bounty it provides. At Dr. Ehrenstorfer, we’re particularly proud of how we keep our portfolio of reference materials aligned with new regulations and the latest research. So why not take a look at our most recent product updates and get in touch to find out how we can help meet your laboratory’s needs.
PESTICIDES AND METABOLITES: INSECTICIDES
Ongoing scrutiny of the environmental effects of pesticide compounds by the public, pressure groups and regulatory bodies means this sector is always relevant. It’s also why we’ve added 24 new neats and single solutions aligned to changing regulations – 22 of which conform to ISO 17034 – to our range this month. Among them are four solutions for phorate and its metabolites – a timely addition to the Dr Ehrenstorfer catalogue, given that this long-used organophosphate insecticide is currently under registration review by the US EPA. Despite long being banned in both the UK and the EU – amidst evidence that it is toxic to humans, fish, birds, bees and laboratory rats – phorate is still used in more than 20 US states.
FOOD ADDITIVES, FLAVOURS AND ADULTERANTS
The artificial molecule ethylvanillin (EV) may have freed parfumiers from their dependence on natural materials – notably in Guerlain’s flagship fragrance Shalimar – but its cheapness and strength of flavour compared to natural vanilla can also be an incentive for committing food fraud. EV is one of several substances used to illegally replicate vanilla extract, particularly when natural vanilla prices are high. The reputations of suppliers and food manufacturers may therefore depend on their analytical laboratories being able to tell the difference between EV and the real thing – and our reliable new ethylvanillin sample is here to support those efforts. It’s also just one of 19 new food additive, flavour and adulterant standards that Dr Ehrenstorfer has added to our range this month.
NITROSAMINES
Nitrosamines such as N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) have come under ever-closer regulatory scrutiny since the US EPA declared them an ‘emerging contaminant’ around 20 years ago. Responding to concerns about the presence of this ‘extremely potent carcinogen’ in drinking water, the EPA began to devise methods for the detection of nitrosamines - and in 2005 required water utilities to test for six of them before submitting the results to a central database. The recall in 2018 of numerous lots of angiotensin receptor blockers contaminated with NDMA and N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) also raised public concerns about the prevalence of nitrosamines in everyday products such as medicines, foods, disinfectants and drinking water. The government of Ontario has become the first to set a formal drinking water standard for nitrosamines, with California set to follow suit soon. Dr Ehrenstorfer has responded to the increased demand for nitrosamine-related standards by adding seven new products to our portfolio this month – several of them related to different EPA methods.