Development of a Nutritional Supplement Certified Reference Material for Elemental Analysis

A certified reference material (CRM) for the analysis of inorganic nutrients in nutritional supplements has been developed. Accurate mass fractions of chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) were determined by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID ICP/MS). The measurement results were used to assign certified values for the CRM, which were metrologically traceable to the definitions of the measurement units in the International System of Units (SI). Production of a candidate reference material (RM) and the certification processes are summarized. Each nutrient in the CRM showed good homogeneity, which was estimated using relative standard deviations of the measurement results of twelve bottles in a batch. This CRM is expected to be an important reference to improve reliability and comparability of nutrient analyses in nutritional supplements and related samples in analytical laboratories.