Our understanding for the mechanisms of biological activities and biogeochemical cycling of mineral and trace element species has been substantially advanced during recent years with the help of chemical speciation analysis studies. Undoubtedtly, the most important practical application of elemental speciation is to be found in the area of toxicology. In turn, more refined toxicological knowledge should lead to better, more specific legislation of hazardous substances.
Indeed legislators are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of elemental speciation, but chances for widespread implementation remain remote, mainly because of a lack of reliable, detailed toxicological data. This very slow process of implementation of speciation information into legislation has a very important impact on the development of the methodology for speciation analysis: since the driving force created from legal requirements is missing, development is mainly driven by exploring technological possibilities rather than by market forces. The situation has changed at least gradually during recent years, since the widespread promotion of speciation analysis within the academic reserch groups have created a niche-market themselves that needs to be addressed.
International legislation concerning food safety, environment and occupational health is mostly based on total element concentrations, frequently expressed as maximum limits or guideline levels. Only a few regulations refer to molecular species. Most often, only specific contaminants "and their compounds" are mentioned, leaving a lot room for interpretation.
Anyhow, here we try to summarize the status of legislation related to elemental species as we are aware of it:
Asia
Related Publications
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Trace Element Speciation and International Food Legislation - A Codex Alimentarius Position Paper on Arsenic as a Contaminant, in: L. Ebdon, L. Pitts, H. Crews, R. Cornelis, O.F.X. Donard, Ph. Quevauviller, Trace Element Speciation for Environment, Food and Health, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2001, 251-260.
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Speciation and legislation, in:
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last time modified: June 15, 2020
