#Working group elements and element species

• Preparation of publications on carrying out analyses.
• Use and revision of standardised methods/standards.
• Practical reports by members on analytical topics.

• Application of processing factors in the legal assessment of element contents in processed and/or composite foods (April 2024) (pdf)
• Reporting measurement uncertainties in the context of official control of trace elements in food (April 2024) (pdf)
• Position paper on the preparation of samples of food for trace element analysis (April 2024) (pdf)
• Position paper on taking recovery rates into account in element determinations (August 2018) (pdf)
• Position paper on the validation of methods for element determination in samples from the National Residue Control Plan (NRKP) (August 2018) (pdf)
  Due to changes in the legal situation, this paper is no longer required. It was withdrawn with effect from 1 January 2023 by resolution of the working group dated 28 October 2022.
• Position paper by the working groups Food Industry, Food Monitoring, Quality Management & Hygiene, Food Laboratories, Elements and Element Species and Pesticides of the Food Chemistry Society (LChG) on the reporting and application of expanded measurement uncertainty – version dated 25 April (2018) (pdf)
  

All position papers have been reviewed and are up to date.

Poster “A bullseye in the methods jungle: overview of official and standardised analytical methods for elements.” At the 2026 German Food Chemistry Days in Kaiserlautern

Poster "Interference in mass spectrometric elemental analysis of foods by rare earth metals and tungsten." At the 2025 German Food Chemistry Days in Haale/Saale"

Poster "Variability of analytical results in the elemental analysis of foods" at the 2023 German Food Chemists’ Day in Bonn

Poster on "Limitations of multi-element methods in trace element analysis" at the 2022 German Food Chemists’ Day in Hamburg

Poster on “Determination of iodine in foods – comparison of DIN EN 15111 and ISO 20647 with practical tips from the working group” at the 2021 German Food Chemists’ Day in Wuppertal/Online

Poster on “Sample preparation for the determination of elements in cosmetics and tattoo inks” at the 2019 German Food Chemists’ Day in Dresden

English Version of the Poster “Sample Preparation for the Determination of Elements in Cosmetics and Tatoos” for Congress of German Food Chemists 2019 in Dresden”

Poster on "Information and practical aids from the working group on elements and element species" at the 2018 German Food Chemists’ Day in Berlin

Poster on “Homogenisation of foods for trace element analysis” at the 2016 German Food Chemists’ Day in Freising

Poster on “Determination of elements in cosmetics by ICP-MS” at the 2016 German Food Chemists’ Day in Freising

Poster on “Determination of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Tl, U and Zn in foods by ICP-MS” at the 2015 German Food Chemists’ Day in Karlsruhe

Poster by the working group at the 2015 German Food Chemists’ Day in Karlsruhe

Lecture on "Analytical challenges in the determination of aluminium" at the 2014 German Food Chemists’ Day in Gießen

Poster on "Coupling methods for the determination of element species" by the working group at the 2012 German Food Chemists’ Day in Münster

Poster on "Recovery and measurement uncertainty in elemental determinations", presented at the 2011 German Food Chemists’ Day in Halle

Poster on "Extraction methods for the determination of arsenic species in rice", presented at the 2010 regional association meeting in Erlangen

Poster on "Cadmium in chocolate and cocoa products", presented at the 2009 German Food Chemists’ Day in Berlin

Poster by the working group, "Limitations in the determination of aluminium in foods", presented at the 2008 German Food Chemists’ Day in Kaiserlautern

Methods overview

• Author’s paper: Aluminium in mineral food supplements: Analysis and assessment – Lebensmittelbrief 37 – 07/08 2026 – pp. 25-27 (PDF)
• Author’s paper: Aluminium in mineral food supplements: Analysis and assessment – Lebensmittelchemie 79 – pp. 186-190 (PDF)
• Author’s paper: Elemental analysis in foodstuffs – Dealing with scattered analytical results - DLR 11/2023 - pp. 458-461 (PDF)
• Author’s paper: Background paper: Sample preparation of foodstuffs for trace element analysis – Lebensmittelchemie 73 – pp. 120-125 (PDF)
• Author’s paper: Analysis of cosmetic products - DLR 06/2017 - pp. 254-258 (PDF)
• Author’s paper: Importance of food sample preparation - DLR 02/2017 - pp. 58-63 (PDF)

from the journal food chemistry:

LMC 03-21, Aluminium (AI)
LMC 05-20, Antimony (Sb)
LMC 04-22, Arsenic (As)
LMC 05-21, Lead (Pb)
LMC 01-25 Chromium (Cr)
LMC 02-21, Iodine (I)
LMC 01-26, Nickel (Ni)
LMC 03-24, Palladium (Pd)
LMC 04-20, Mercury (Hg)
LMC 04-26, Rubidium (Rb)
LMC 01-21, Selenium (Se)
LMC 02-24 Silicon (Si)
LMC 06-20, Thallium (TI)
LMC 04-24 Titanium (Ti)
LMC 02-23, Zinc (Zn)
LMC 04-21, Tin (Sn)