Lime as the source of PCDD/F contamination in citrus pulp pellets from Brazil and status of the monitoring program

After an exhaustive investigation, in 1997 the source of the milk contamination in Germany was traced to citrus pulp pellets originating from Brazil. It has been shown that lime was the source of the PCDD/F contamination of these products. After this conclusion, a continuous monitoring program has been performed over a two year period and the results are presented in this paper. Standard isotope dilution techniques were used for all samples, which were analyzed by selected ion monitoring high resolution GC–MS.