BIPM and TÜBİTAK UME signed an agreement to expand the BIPM Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer (CBKT) program on "Safe Food and Feed Metrology" to include the measurement of veterinary drug residues in food with planned activities on tetracycline materials.

Tetracyclines are a group of broad-spectrum antibiotic compounds with a common basic structure that are widely used in veterinary medicine. Due to concerns about the potential health risk of prolonged consumer exposure to low levels of these compounds, many countries have monitoring programs for the presence of tetracycline residues in foods of animal origin, including meat, fish, milk, eggs and honey.

With this project, TÜBİTAK UME will use its production facilities and technical expertise to prepare a batch of four candidate pure tetracycline reference materials. In addition, the BIPM Chemistry Division, in collaboration with TÜBİTAK UME and other partners in the CBKT program, will develop and publish measurement guidelines based on the qNMR technique and mass balance characterization of each material. The project will also provide purity assessment guidelines and materials for knowledge transfer activities to national metrology institutes interested in developing their capabilities in this field.

At the end of the project, TÜBİTAK UME will include the four reference materials it will develop within the framework of the partnership activity in its product portfolio to be used in the studies of laboratories conducting research and providing measurement services in this field.

TÜBİTAK UME has been contributing significantly to the BIPM Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer (CBKT) program since its inception, including researchers, laboratory facilities and training support.