Volumetric method for determing traces of organic chlorine in lipids

The official AOAC method for determining chlorine in cake flour lipids has been modified to determine chlorine in lipids of animal carcasses cooled with chlorinated water. The sensitivity of the method has been improved 1000-fold to attain a detection limit of 2 ppm Cl in lipids. Recovery of the fine silver chloride precipitate was improved through centrifugation rather than filtration. The official method also did not take into consideration that when the silver chloride precipitate is exposed to light, it is converted to free chlorine and silver. Recovery of organic chlorine ranged from 84.6% at 4.1 ppm to 100.1% at 100 ppm. A number of samples of commercially chlorinated beef, pork, and chicken and laboratory-chlorinated chicken were analyzed by this method. In all cases where the level of chlorination was sufficient to result in a chlorine level in lipids in excess of 2 ppm, the chlorine content of the carcass lipids was measurable.