🍎 Calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc in all animal feeding stuffs — atomic absorption spectrometry; limits of determination according to the description of the standard: potassium and sodium 500 mg/kg, calcium and magnesium 50 mg/kg, copper, iron, manganese and zinc 5 mg/kg; flame AAS (FAAS) in accreditation scopes; PN-EN ISO 6869:2002

Food chemistry PN-EN ISO 6869

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The "Scope" field of the PKN card, in full: "An atomic absorption spectrometric method is given for determining the contents of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc in all animal feeding stuffs. The principle of the method, reagents, materials, apparatus, sampling and preparation of samples, procedure, calculation of results and precision (repeatability and reproducibility of the method) are described" (our translation; no full stop at the end on the card; the card has a grammatical slip in the first sentence). The description of the standard in the Standard Norge catalogue (card of NS-EN ISO 6869:2000) adds the limits of determination: "K and Na 500 mg/kg; Ca and Mg 50 mg/kg; Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn 5 mg/kg". We did not have the text of the standard (21 pages).

STATUS (card as of 13.10.2026). The card of PN-EN ISO 6869:2002 (Polish version) has neither the heading "Withdrawn" nor a "Withdrawal date" line: publication 18-12-2002, 21 pages, price group L, Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sector, KT 40 Feed, "Adopts: EN ISO 6869:2000 [IDT], ISO 6869:2000 [IDT]", "Replaces: PN-EN ISO 6869:2002 - English version", ICS 65.120. The earlier English version (PN-EN ISO 6869:2002) carries in the PKN search the label "Withdrawn and replaced by PN-EN ISO 6869:2002 - Polish version" (12.10.2026). At the publisher: according to the Standard Norge catalogue (13.10.2026) ISO 6869:2000 (edition 1 of 14 December 2000, ISO/TC 34/SC 10) has the status "Published", with no note on replacement.

IN THE REGULATION. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/771 of 29 February 2024 amending Regulation (EC) No 152/2009 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of feed (OJ L of 15.3.2024) — in Annex IV "Methods of analysis to control the level of authorised additives in feed", part C "Determination of the trace elements iron, copper, manganese and zinc", states that their content is to be determined by the method of EN 15510, EN 15621, EN 17053, EN ISO 6869 or by the flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) method described in points 1–8 of that part, with lower limits of quantification: iron 20 mg/kg, copper 10 mg/kg, manganese 20 mg/kg, zinc 20 mg/kg. Annex III (methods of analysis of the composition of feed materials and compound feed) contains no method for determining calcium, magnesium, potassium or sodium, and the number 6869 occurs only once in the text of the regulation — in part C of Annex IV, for the four trace elements.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database from the production server, refreshed on 12.10.2026). Number 6869 appears in 15 records at 10 laboratories (AB 594 has one entry split into 5 records in the copy, AB 400 — two entries); in the current PCA documents (read on 12–13.10.2026; issues from 31.10.2025 — AB 545 — to 07.08.2026 — AB 400) — in 11 rows at the same laboratories; a search of all downloaded PCA documents found no laboratories outside the database copy, no row with the number is set in bold italics, and no pages are repeated in any document. Notations: "PN-EN ISO 6869:2002" — 7 laboratories (AB 868 with instruction I-01/1 edition 7 of 01.02.2022); "PN-EN ISO 6869" without the year — AB 465 (with procedure PBC-52.00.00 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/771), AB 527 (with a Commission implementing regulation, without a number in the document) and AB 856 (with procedure PB 35 KLP and Regulation 2024/771). The "Laboratories" tab (search term "PN-EN ISO 6869") shows all 10 laboratories — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 13.10.2026.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (database copy and PCA documents). Test object: feed (all 10; AB 527 also premixtures and feed additives, AB 585 also agricultural products, AB 868 "animal feed"), at AB 400 meals separately. Technique: flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) — all. Elements with ranges: all eight — AB 400 (Ca 0.1–25 %, Mg 0.15–5 %, K 0.1–10 %, Zn 10.0–20000 mg/kg, Cu, Fe and Mn 1.0–1500 mg/kg, Na 10.0–50000 mg/kg; in meals only Ca, Mg, K), AB 545 (Cu 5.0–35000, Zn 5.0–800000, Fe 5.0–300000, Mn 5–63000 mg/kg; Ca 0.05–400, Mg 0.05–560, K 0.5–500, Na 0.5–400 g/kg), AB 585 (Ca 0.24–455 g/kg, Cu 3.0–18000 mg/kg, Zn 14–62171 mg/kg, Na 0.076–102 g/kg, K 0.05–49 g/kg, Fe 4.0–72000 mg/kg, Mn 2.6–50000 mg/kg, Mg 0.01–74 g/kg), AB 868 (Ca 0.3–200, Na 0.05–15, K 0.2–30 g/kg; Mg 20.0–6000, Zn 6.0–1300, Mn 5.0–500, Fe 10.0–750, Cu 5.0–1200 mg/kg); only calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium — AB 594 (Ca 50–400000, Mg 50–4600, Na 500–80000, K 500–35000 mg/kg), AB 604 (Ca 0.03–24.0 %, Mg 0.11–5.0 %, Na 0.02–5.0 %, K 0.16–1.3 %) and AB 620 (Ca, K, Mg, Na without ranges, in an entry with the test object "Feed E" — flexible scope); without a list of elements, in a flexible scope ("E") — AB 465, AB 527, AB 856.

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. In the same entries: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/771 — AB 465, AB 527 (without the number), AB 856; in-house procedures — AB 465 (PBC-52.00.00), AB 856 (PB 35 KLP); instruction — AB 868 (I-01/1). Three laboratories split the elements between two documents: they determine iron, copper, zinc and manganese according to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/771, Annex IV C (FAAS), and calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium according to this standard (AB 594, AB 604, AB 620); at AB 594 the ranges for iron, copper, zinc and manganese start exactly at the limits of quantification of the regulation (20, 10, 20 and 20 mg/kg). In the database copy the same elements in feed are determined according to PN-EN 15621 (ICP-AES after pressure digestion; a separate Knowledge Base entry) by two laboratories — AB 531 and AB 545; AB 545 has both standards in separate entries.

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — lower limit: the description of the standard gives limits of determination of K and Na 500 mg/kg, Ca and Mg 50 mg/kg, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn 5 mg/kg, while the ranges of some laboratories start lower — AB 400 (Na from 10 mg/kg; Cu, Fe and Mn from 1.0 mg/kg), AB 585 (Na from 76 mg/kg, K from 50 mg/kg, Mg from 10 mg/kg, Cu from 3.0, Fe from 4.0, Mn from 2.6 mg/kg), AB 604 (Na from 0.02 % = 200 mg/kg), AB 868 (Na from 50 mg/kg, K from 200 mg/kg, Mg from 20.0 mg/kg) — this requires conditions other than those for which the standard gives its limits. Second — units: the ranges in accreditation scopes are given in %, g/kg and mg/kg (0.1 % = 1000 mg/kg = 1 g/kg); they have to be converted before comparing them with the limit of the standard. Third — the regulation: it cites EN ISO 6869 only for iron, copper, manganese and zinc as feed additives, alongside its own FAAS method; this part of the regulation does not cover calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium — and three laboratories (AB 594, AB 604, AB 620) apply the standard precisely and only to these four elements. Fourth — flexible scope: at AB 465, AB 527 and AB 856 the PCA document gives neither elements nor ranges; according to the document, the laboratory makes the list of its activities available itself.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — we do not give the sample preparation (dry ashing, digestion), the reagents, the wavelengths, the type of flame, additives against interferences or precision data.

Method principle

The contents of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc in feed are determined by atomic absorption spectrometry in a solution prepared from the sample (PKN card: principle, reagents, apparatus, sample preparation, calculation and precision); limits of determination according to the description of the standard: K and Na 500 mg/kg, Ca and Mg 50 mg/kg, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn 5 mg/kg. WE DO NOT GIVE details of the preparation and measurement — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• All animal feeding stuffs — calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc (PKN card)
• Official control of feed — iron, copper, manganese and zinc as feed additives: EN ISO 6869 is one of the methods named in Regulation (EC) No 152/2009 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/771
• Feed, premixtures, feed additives, meals — in the current accreditation scopes of 10 laboratories, all with FAAS

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN ISO 6869:2002

Title (PL)

Pasze — Oznaczanie zawartości wapnia, miedzi, żelaza, magnezu, manganu, potasu, sodu i cynku — Metoda absorpcyjnej spektrometrii atomowej

Title (EN)

Animal feeding stuffs — Determination of the contents of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc — Method using atomic absorption spectrometry

Step-by-step procedure

1. Sample

   Sampling and preparation of feed samples — described in the standard according to the PKN card; WE DO NOT GIVE details. PN-EN ISO 6869:2002 without a withdrawal note in PKN (13.10.2026).

2. Bringing into solution

   WE DO NOT GIVE how the sample is decomposed — we did not have the text of the standard.

3. Measurement

   Atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS in accreditation scopes); Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, K, Na, Zn.

4. Result

   Content of the element in the feed; results below the limits of determination from the description of the standard (K, Na 500; Ca, Mg 50; Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn 5 mg/kg) require conditions other than in the standard.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Digestion of samples and work with the spectrometer flame — safety rules of a chemical laboratory
• SUBJECT-MATTER NOTE: the regulation on the official control of feed cites this standard only for iron, copper, manganese and zinc

Frequently asked questions