Newsletter #5 – August 2016

R&D: Results research project analysis of perchlorate in fertilizers

Primoris, being a spin-off of the Belgian University of Ghent, pays a lot of attention to research and development and we participate in numerous research projects  in order to keep up with all recent developments. Not only does it help us to improve our knowledge, it also allows us to optimize our analytical possibilities for our customers.

From December 2014 till May 2016, Primoris took part in a project to study and remediate perchlorate in the culture of leafy vegetables under glass. In this project, 3 partners were involved: Primoris Belgium, Inagro and PSKW (other involved partners: LAVA and Belfertil). The research that yielded these results, was funded by the Belgian Federal Public Service of Health.

The project has now come to an end and we are proud to summarize some results.

During this project, Primoris has developed and validated an analytical technique to determine perchlorate in fertilizers, starting from its existing accredited method on fruit and vegetables. The validation shows that the performance of the developed method is in accordance with SANCO guidelines and the criteria provided in this project. The method will be presented for accreditation with a reporting limit of 0,05 ppm.

Furthermore, Primoris used the existing perchlorate method during a lot of trials which lead to insight in:

• the accumulation in soil and lettuce when applying different concentrations of perchlorate in the fertilizers
• the influence of irrigation and soil nitrogen content on the perchlorate intake
• the influence of harvest time/date
• the variation of concentration of perchlorate in crop and soil within a cultivation unit (greenhouse)
• the distribution of perchlorate in the plant
• the influence of culinary operations on perchlorate content

More info

Are you interested in more details about the outcome of this project? Please contact us via email communications.be@primoris-lab.com.