The development of reference materials for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in lyophilized mussel. II: Certification study

This paper describes the second part of a project undertaken to develop certified mussel reference materials for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. In the first part two interlaboratory studies were undertaken to investigate the performance of the analytical methodology for several PSP toxins, in particular saxitoxin and decarbamoyl-saxitoxin in lyophilized mussels, and to set criteria for the acceptance of results to be applied during the certification exercise. Fifteen laboratories participated in this certification study and were asked to measure saxitoxin and decarbamoyl-saxitoxin in rehydrated lyophilized mussel material and in a saxitoxin-enriched mussel material. The participants were allowed to use a method of their choice but with an extraction procedure to be strictly followed. The study included extra experiments to verify the detection limits for both saxitoxin and decarbamoyl-saxitoxin. Most participants (13 of 15) were able to meet all the criteria set for the certification study. Results for saxitoxin.2HCl yielded a certified mass fraction of <0.07 mg/kg in the rehydrated lyophilized mussels. Results obtained for decarbamoyl-saxitoxin.2HCl yielded a certified mass fraction of 1.59+/-0.20 mg/kg. The results for saxitoxin.2HCl in enriched blank mussel yielded a certified mass fraction of 0.48 +/- 0.06 mg/kg. These certified reference materials for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in lyophilized mussel material are the first available for laboratories to test their method for accuracy and performance.