AOAC International

1 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (lUPAC) 

AOAC International was formed in the United States of America in 1880 at a meeting attended by government and university scientists and officials concerned with the analysis of fertilizers. Initially, the association was formed as a section of the chemistry subdivision of the American Academy of Sciences, adopting a committee 

Established in 1894, AOAC International is an independent association of scientists and organizations in the public and private sectors devoted to promoting methods validation and quality measurements in the analytical sciences. AOAC has a mission to ensure the development, testing, validation, and publication of reliable chemical and biological methods of analysis for foods, drugs, feed-stuffs, fertilizers, pesticides, water, forensic materials and other substances affecting public health and safety and the environment. 

Interest in promoting the use of reference materials in method validation studies led in March 1993 to the formation of a Technical Division on Reference Materials, TDRM (Heavner 1995). The stated purpose of the TDRM is to improve the quality of 

The issue of data reproducibility had been the previous focus of the AOAC Official Methods Program. The TDRM will assist AOAC in responding to an expanded scope of it mission to include statements of accuracy with AOAC methods. This extra step requires independent verification of the accuracy of measurements generated by the method. Accuracy of an analytical method must be verified at three separate points  

Proper use of reference materials in each of these three areas is essential. 

Additional information on activities and membership in AOAC and the TDRM can be foimd on the AOAC website (Table 8.4). 

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HORWITZ w, Ed. (2000) Official methods of analysis ofAOAC International, Gaithersburg, Md, AOAC International. 

Chernomorsky, S., Quantitative procedure for chlorophyllin copper complex. Technical Communications, J. AOAC Internal., 11, 765, 1994. 

Lee, J., Durst, R., and Wrolstad, R., AOAC official method 2005.02 total monomeric anthocyanin pigment content of fruit juices, beverages, natural colorants, and wines by the pH differential method, in Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International, Horowitz, H., Ed., AOAC, Washington, D.C, 2005. 

Thompson M, Wood R (1993) International harmonized protocol for proficiency testing of (chemical) analytical laboratories. J of AOAC Intern 76 926-937. 

Bacteriological analytical manual, 8th edn. (1995). AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD. 

Ihnat M (1994) Development of a new series of agricultural/food reference materials for analytical quality control of elemental determinations. J AOAC International 77 1605-1627. 

Sullivan D, Carpenter D, eds. (1993) Methods of Analysis for Nutrition Labelling. AOAC International, Gaithersburg MD, USA. 

AOAC International, Gaithersburg http //www.aoac.org Elsevier Science B.V. ... 

Membership of EURACHEM is open to all EU/EFTA countries and the Commission of the European Communities. Other European countries may participate in EURACHEM as Associate Members and representatives of organizations. Eor example, AOAC International and the Federation of European Chemical Societies (EECS) can attend EURACHEM meetings as observers. All delegates to the EURACHEM Committee are eligible to voice their opinions and participate in projects of interest. 

BERM-5 presented the changing outlook of the AOAC International in recognizing the usefulness of incorporating RMs for use in conjunction with their methods validation protocol. 

Heavner GR (1995) An update on AOAC INTERNATIONAL new program activities. Fresenius J Anal Chem 352 19-22. 

Craft N and Boyir K (1993) Guidelines for preparation of in-house quality assurance control materials. The Referee, AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD, i7(5) 6-8. 

Fox A (2000) AOAC International Offers Leadership in Proficiency Testing. Food Testing and Analysis, 5(6) 7-g. 

Tanner JT, Wolf WR, and Horwitz W (1995) Nutritional Metrology. The role of reference materials in improving quality of analytical measurements and data on food components. In Greenfield H, ed. Quality and Accessibility of Food-Related Data, pp 99-104. AOAC International, Gaithersburg MD. 

The Pesticide Analytical Manual of the US Food and Drug Administration or the Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International are method collections with international recognition. Both compilations are written in English, one prerequisite for its success. Method collections of EU Member States are most often available only in the national languages. Eor this reason, they are relatively unknown in other Member States. Fortunately, some good collections of official national methods are translated into the English language. The most important are... 

C. Warner, J. Modderman, T. Fazio, M. Beroza, G. Schwartzman and K. Fominaya, Food Additives Analytical Manual, AOAC International, Arlington, VA (1993). 

As microwave sample preparation has evolved, standard microwave procedures have been developed and approved by numerous standard methods organisations (ASTM, AOAC International, EPA, etc.), see ref. [64]. Examples are standard test methods for carbon black/ash content (ASTM Method D 1506-97), lead analysis in direct paint samples (ASTM Method E 1645-94), etc. Table 8.15 shows some microwave ashing references (detection weight). A French AFNOR method utilises the atmospheric pressure single-mode microwave method as an alternative sample preparation procedure for Kjeldahl nitrogen determination [84], The performance of a microwave-assisted decomposition for rapid determination of glass fibre content in plastics for QC has been described [85]. 

H. Oka, H. Nakazawa, K.-I. Harada and J. D. MacNeil (eds.) Chemical Analysis of Antibiotics Used in Agriculture, AOAC International, Arlington, 1995. 

Figure 4.6 Interlaboratory coefficient of variation as a function of concentration (note that the filled circles are values calculated by using equation (4.4), not experimental points) [10]. Reproduced by permission of AOAC International, from Horwitz, W., J. Assoc. Off. Anal. Chem., 66, 1295-1301 (1983).

Garfield, F., Klesta, M. E. and Hirsch, J., Quality Assurance Principles for Analytical Laboratories, 3rd Edition, ISBN 0-935584-70-6, Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) International, Gaithersburg, MD, USA, 2000. 

Bentabol A, Jodral M. 1995. Determination of organochlorine pesticides in cheese. J AOAC International 78(l) 94-98. 

FDA. 1992. Residue monitoring-1991 (5th Annual FDA Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Report). J of AOAC International 75(5) 135A-157A. 

KAN-DO Office and Pesticides Team. 1995. Accumulated pesticides and industrial chemical findings from a ten-year study of ready-to-eat foods. Journal of AOAC International. 

Lopez-Avila V, Bauer K, Milanes J, et al. 1993. Evaluation of Soxtec extraction procedure for extracting organic compounds from soils and sediments. J AOAC International 76 864-880. 

Lott HM, Barker SA. 1993. Extraction and gas chromatographic screening of 14 chlorinated pesticides in crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) hepatopancreas. J AOAC International 76 663-668. 

Schattenberg HJ III, Hsu J-P. 1992. Pesticide residue survey of produce from 1989 to 1991. Journal of AOAC International 75(5) 925-933. 

Tang PH, Ho JS, Eichelberger JW. 1993. Determination of organic pollutants in reagent water by liquid-solid extraction followed by supercritical fluid elution. J AOAC International 76 72-82. 

Tomkins BA, Merriweather R, Jenkins RA. 1992. Determination of eight organochlorine pesticides at low nanogram/liter concentrations in groundwater using filter disk extraction and gas chromatography. J AOAC International 75 1091-1099. 

Trotter WJ. 1993. Pesticide residues in composited milk collected through the U. S. Pasteurized Milk Network. Journal of AOAC International 76(6) 1220-1225. 

Yess NJ, Gunderson EL, Roy RR. 1993. U. S. Food and Drug Administration monitoring of pesticide residues in infant foods and adult foods eaten by infants/children. J AOAC International 76(3) 492-507. 

ISO, IUPAC and AOAC INTERNATIONAL have co-operated to produce agreed protocols on the Design, Conduct and Interpretation of Collaborative Studies 14 and on the Proficiency Testing of [Chemical] Analytical Laboratories .11 The Working Group that produced these protocols has prepared a further protocol on the internal quality control of data produced in analytical laboratories. The document was finalised in 1994 and published in 1995 as the Harmonised Guidelines For Internal Quality Control In Analytical Chemistry Laboratories .12 The use of the procedures outlined in the Protocol should aid compliance with the accreditation requirements specified above. 

ISO/IUPAC/AOAC International Harmonised Protocol For Proficiency Testing of (Chemical) Analytical Laboratories... 

The development of methods of analysis for incorporation into International Standards or into foodstuff legislation was, until comparatively recently, not systematic. However, the EU and Codex have requirements regarding methods of analysis and these are outlined below. They are followed by other International Standardising Organisations (e.g. AOAC International (AOACI) and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN)). 

Many of the more established techniques have been validated through collaborative studies which becomes of greater importance as laboratories seek to become accredited via ISO, EN or related systems where the use of official or well validated methods is mandatory. New instrumental techniques are constantly being reported in the literature but it often requires many years before procedures are introduced, validated and then applied within the food industry. Recent techniques that can be included in this category are capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). In time procedures based on these techniques will also become accepted as routine methods and are likely to be adopted by some of the official international bodies like the AOAC International, CEN, ISO, etc. 

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