The presence of undesirable elements

EU legislation regulates the presence and levels of undesirable elements in feed materials.  For feed phosphates mainly fluorine and heavy metals are important. The levels of dioxins and PCB's like dioxins are normally only performed in very specialised laboratories.

Fluoride analysis

The determination of the fluoride level in phosphates is based on a measurement with ion-selective F-electrode after dissolution in diluted HCl.

Arsenic, cadmium and lead

The determination of levels of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) is based on atomic absorption or inductive coupled plasma analysis.

Mercury

The determination of mercury (Hg) is based on flameless atomic absorption.