Residues Section
About the Section
The Section provides analytical and advisory support to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for the protection of public health and safety, and for support of their statutory functions under various Regulations and Ordinances. Major areas of work include the examination of trace levels of veterinary drug and pesticide residues in imported and locally manufactured food samples. Analytical services are also provided to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for the examination of pesticides in various types of formulated products. Analytical reports produced by the Section are admissible in courts of law as evidence of compliance or otherwise with the legislative requirements.
Responsibilities
This Section conducts analyses for enforcement of the following regulations under the Ordinances:
- Harmful Substances in Food Regulations and Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132)
- Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Chemical Residues) Regulation under the Public Health (Animals and Birds) Ordinance (Cap.139)
- Pesticides Ordinance (Cap. 133)
Quality Assurance
About 25% of the tests conducted in the Section are for QC purpose.
This Section also participates on a regular basis Food Analysis Performance Assessment Scheme (FAPAS) organized by The Food and Environment Research Agency of UK.
Key Instruments
The following instruments are used routinely by the Section:
- Gas Chromatograph with Tandem Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS/MS)
- Gas Chromatograph with Quadruple Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (GC/QTOF/MS)
- High Performance Liquid Chromatograph with Tandem Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS/MS)
- High Performance Liquid Chromatograph with Photodiode Array Detector and Scanning Fluorescence Detector
- Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatograph with Quadruple Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (UPLC/QTOF/MS)
- Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatograph with Quadrupole Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer
- Automatic Gel Permeation Chromatograph
- Automatic Solid Phase Extraction System
- Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) System
- Radio-immunoassay (RIA) System
Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatograph with Quadrupole Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer
High Performance Liquid Chromatographs with Tandem Mass Spectrometer
Targets and Key Indicators
For the targets and key indicators for food, pesticide formulation, seepage and swimming pool water samples, please click here for details.