Can official control laboratories quantify reliably fipronil in eggs? Evidence from a proficiency testing round.

A proficiency testing (PT) round dedicated to assess the competence of European Union (EU) National Reference Laboratories (NRLs), EU Official Control Laboratories (OCLs) and OCLs from associated countries for the determination of the insecticide fipronil in eggs is described. The content of the target analytes (sum of fipronil plus its metabolite fipronil sulfone, expressed as fipronil in the PT test material) was set around the regulated Maximum Residue Level (MRL) set by EU legislation. The PT was organised by the European Commission's (EC) Directorate General (DG) Joint Research Centre (JRC) - in agreement with the EC DG for Health and Food Safety (SANTE) - following a request by the Belgian Authorities. Eighty-six NRLs and OCLs from 22 EU Member States, Norway, Serbia and Albania participated. The test items used were two materials made of frozen liquid eggs, processed and characterised at the JRC facilities in Geel (Belgium). The majority of the participants (94%) were shown to have a satisfactory performance, expressed as z scores, thus demonstrating the analytical capability of most of the participating NRLs and OCLs to enforce the relevant EU Regulations ((EC) 396/2005 and 1127/2014). Furthermore, 93% of the participants who provided a compliance statement classified, correctly, one of the test items as non-compliant.