Innovative Acid Silica Method Enables Rapid Detection of Toxic Dioxins and PCBs in Foods and Oils

Introduction

Persistent organic pollutants like dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) have long been a concern due to their extreme toxicity and tendency to bioaccumulate in the human food chain. A new study published in the Annals of Advances in Chemistry introduces a novel modified acid silica method that dramatically reduces the analysis time for detecting these harmful compounds in foods, feedstuffs, and vegetable oils.

Developed by Ovanes Chakoyan from Fidelitas Lab, Bulgaria, this method simplifies the traditionally complex extraction and purification processes used in dioxin testingachieving faster, more accurate results. Visit https://www.advancechemjournal.com/ for more groundbreaking research in analytical chemistry and food safety innovation.

Revolutionizing Dioxin Detection in Foods

Dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and DL-PCBs are among the most toxic environmental contaminants, often found in fatty foods such as meat, fish, dairy products, and vegetable oils. Traditionally, detecting these compounds required lengthy sample preparation and high-resolution mass spectrometry.

The newly developed acid silica-based purification system introduced by Chakoyan reduces the total sample preparation time to just seven hours per sample, without compromising analytical accuracy.

Key Highlights of the Method:

• Efficient extraction: Semi-automatic Soxhlet extraction using Hexane:Acetone (80:20) mixture.
• Simplified digestion: Lipid removal via 55% acid silica instead of harsh mineral acids.
• Enhanced purification: Dual-column setup with multilayer silica and alumina columns.
• Advanced detection: GC/MS/MS analysis using a triple quadrupole mass detector for precise quantification of toxic congeners.

This innovative workflow shows excellent mean recoveries of 80–110% for PCDDs/PCDFs and 70–85% for DL-PCBsensuring reliable results for regulatory compliance and public health protection.

Broader Implications for Food Safety

The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that even small quantities of dioxins can disrupt endocrine function, harm immune responses, and cause reproductive toxicity. Monitoring and controlling dioxin levels in foods are therefore critical for protecting consumers from long-term exposure.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), most human dioxin exposureup to 90%comes from dietary sources. Thus, rapid, accurate testing methods like this new acid silica approach are pivotal for ensuring that food products remain within safe toxic equivalent (TEQ) limits.

Analytical Validation and Performance

The developed method complies fully with EU Regulation 709/2014, which sets performance criteria for confirmatory analysis of PCDDs, PCDFs, and DL-PCBs. The GC/MS/MS system used in this study achieved results comparable to the gold-standard GC/HRMS (high-resolution mass spectrometry), but at a fraction of the cost and time.

Analytical Performance Summary:

• Linearity (R²): >0.999 for all tested congeners
• LOQ: As low as 0.001 pg/g for certain toxic dioxins
• TEQ Calculation: Based on WHO Toxic Equivalency Factors (TEFs)
• Compliance: Fully validated under EU food and feed regulations

Read the full study at https://doi.org/10.29328/journal.aac.1001037 for complete methodology and data tables.

Applications in Industry and Research

This validated approach can be applied in:

• Food safety laboratories for rapid screening of edible oils and animal feeds.
• Regulatory compliance testing in accordance with EU and WHO standards.
• Environmental monitoring to track the spread of persistent organic pollutants.

A detailed analysis can be found in our main journal article at https://www.advancechemjournal.com/articles/aac-aid1037.pdf.

Conclusion and Future Outlook

The modified acid silica method represents a major advancement in rapid dioxin and PCB detection, offering a sustainable and high-throughput alternative to conventional techniques. With its demonstrated precision and regulatory compliance, it holds great promise for routine quality control in food and feed testing laboratories.

By enabling faster and more accurate detection, this method contributes directly to ensuring global food safety and environmental health.

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