Determination of styrene in milk : FCM-23/02 proficiency test report

The implementation of the EU legislation on food contact materials (FCM) requires the EU member states to conduct tests ensuring that the legal requirements of the FCM are met. These tests are performed by laboratories designated for official controls. In line with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls for food and feed, the European Union Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) organised a proficiency testing (PT) round for the determination of styrene in milk. The scope of this PT was to assess the proficiency of the participants in quantifying styrene in milk at a concentration that is proposed to be the new specific migration limit (SML) of styrene from plastics into food, as outlined in the future amendment of to the Commission Regulation (EU) 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. This PT was open to EU National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) and interested Official Control Laboratories (OCLs). This report summarises the results of the PT "FCM-23/02" for the determination of styrene in milk. The two test items analysed in this PT consisted of a commercial milk (T1) and the same milk spiked with styrene (T2). Twenty-seven laboratories registered, but twenty-six submitted results to the PT round, including 17 National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) from 19 EU Member States and Switzerland and 9 EU Official Control Laboratories (OCLs). The evaluation of the analytical performance confirms that most laboratories are able to identify and accurately quantify styrene in milk.