AOAC is aware of the value of Official Methods^SM around the world and the need to drive new methods through validation so as to modernize the Official Methods of Analysis^SM (OMA) and reinforce the AOAC brand. Realizing this need, AOAC is launching an initiative to validate approximately 10 prospective methods--resulting from the Association’s contract- and community-related activities, as well as individual submissions. Methods deemed priority have now been identified.

“There are many good, prospective methods that have come out of AOAC’s contract- and community-related activities,” said James Bradford, AOAC executive director. “Much valuable information is available that should be taken advantage of. We now have an opportunity to invest in our future by driving more new and modern methods through to validation.”

Although still in early stages of development, the pilot initiative included the following strategy: Armed with a list of approximately 50 prospective methods available for validation, AOAC reached out to its technology providers—those who have close business networks with the regulated industry and who are aware of the major analytical problems and how science-based solutions can be used to solve these problems--to provide guidance in prioritizing approximately 10 of the most relevant and urgently needed methods.

From the compiled list, technology providers such as Agilent, PerkinElmer, Thermo Fisher, Varian, and Waters identified and recommended the following methods for validation:

  Melamine and cyanuric acid in infant formula by LC/MS/MS

  Pesticides, veterinary drugs, and mycotoxin residues in foods, herbs, and botanicals by GC/MS and LC/MS/MS

  Multielements (Ca, Cu, Fe, etc.) in food products by ICP/AES

  Multiresidue veterinary drugs in seafood and honey by LC/MS/MS

  Total and inorganic arsenic in rice by LC and ICP/MS

  Simultaneous determination of 635 pesticide residues in tea by GC/MS and LC/MS/MS

  Multimycotoxins in animal feed (various LC techniques)

  Multianalyte pesticidebresidues in animal feed by LC/MS/MS

  Aflatoxins B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂ in peanut oil and sesame oil by LC

  Vitamin D in dietary supplements

With the launch of the 12-month pilot project, AOAC is responding to members’ needs for more methods that are fast and high-technology. The goal is to validate approximately 10 Official Methods^SM a year, to start.

“AOAC values its members, on whom we rely greatly,” Bradford said. “We’re making an investment in a valuable program so that our members can, in turn, rely on us. As a leader in the analytical sciences community, AOAC has the opportunity to make a powerful statement to our members and to the analytical community itself. The pilot project will also reenergize our volunteers who want to do important work. This is a very exciting step for AOAC and its valued members.”

For more information, contact Anita Mishra, executive for scientific business development, at amishra@aoac.org; Krystna McIver, senior director, stakeholder communications, at kmciver@aoac.org; or Dawn Frazier, senior director, membership and education, at dfrazier@aoac.org.

Full coverage is schedule for the May/June issue of Inside Laboratory Management.

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