The Importance of Dioxin Analysis in Food and Feed
Dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are among the most toxic environmental contaminants. Even in minuscule quantities, these persistent organic pollutants (POPs) pose a significant threat to human and animal health. Their
presence in food and feed—especially in fat-rich products like fish, dairy, eggs, and meat—can lead to chronic exposure, with serious long-term effects including cancer, immune system suppression, reproductive issues, and developmental delays.
Because dioxins accumulate in the food chain and are chemically stable, regulatory bodies such as the European Union have set extremely low maximum residue levels, typically in the parts-per-trillion (ppt) range. This creates an analytical challenge: the need for methods that are not only highly sensitive and specific but also reliable, reproducible, and efficient. Traditional methods for determining dioxins are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and require a multi-step sample cleanup process to remove interfering matrix components such as fats, sulfur, and pigments before gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) detection.
Obtaining accurate results for dioxins is crucial for ensuring regulatory compliance, protecting consumers, and facilitating international trade. Laboratories worldwide face an increasing demand for high-throughput, cost-effective solutions that meet these standards without compromising precision. This is where automation becomes essential, and why LCTech’s DEXTech systems are gaining widespread recognition for transforming sample preparation methods to determine dioxins accurately.
Streamlining Dioxin Extraction with LCTech’s DEXTech Systems
The DEXTech series by LCTech, comprising the DEXTech Pure, DEXTech Heat, and DEXTech 16 represents a leap forward in automated dioxin and PCB sample preparation. These systems automate the complex cleanup process using a modular column setup that isolates dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs from fats and other matrix interferences with exceptional efficiency.
At the heart of DEXTech is its use of a triple-column configuration: an acidic silica column to oxidize and remove lipids and other matrix interferents, an alumina column to enable the selective fractionation of the dioxins, and an activated carbon column for final cleanup and separation of planar and non-planar compounds. The design enables selective elution, allowing dioxins and PCBs to be fractionated and collected in separate vials, ready for evaporation and concentration using the D-EVA centrifugal evaporator or direct GC-HRMS analysis.
The DEXTech 16 sampler excels in high-throughput applications, offering fully automated, parallel processing of up to 16 samples in a single run with minimal supervision. This dramatically increases laboratory productivity while reducing human error and solvent usage. For laboratories focused on critical analyses with a smaller footprint, the DEXTech Pure offers compact, walk-away automation with reliable fractionation.
The newest addition, DEXTech Heat, brings enhanced temperature control for lipid-rich matrices and samples that are solid at room temperature, ensuring optimal flow and reproducibility during cleanup. Whether processing milk, fish oil, feed, or meat, DEXTech systems deliver high-purity extracts, reproducible results, and significant time savings.
In an era where regulatory pressure is increasing and laboratory resources are tightening, LCTech’s DEXTech series offers a scalable, robust solution that helps laboratories achieve precise dioxin and PCB quantification with confidence. By automating the most challenging part of the workflow, DEXTech enables scientists to focus on data interpretation, rather than manual labor, thereby driving safety, compliance, and peace of mind in global food and feed testing.