The Government Laboratory may be one of the administration's lower-profile departments, yet it is one of the most important, with its skilled and dedicated staff working hard to keep Hong Kong people safe.

This was made clear during the recent melamine scare, during which food, especially dairy products, was found to be tainted with the chemical. The lab's diligent staff worked around the clock to accurately test scores of products and let the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department promptly inform the public of the results.

Unsung heroes: Tsui Shu-ki and Dr Tang Hau-san are two of the skilled Government Laboratory staff who worked hard to keep Hong Kong safe during the recent melamine scare, using equipment like the High Performance Liquid Chromatograph - Tandem Mass Spectrometer.

Well prepared

The tests were conducted by its Analytical & Advisory Services Division. Senior chemist Tsui Shu-ki said although most of the public were unaware of the chemical and its dangers, the lab was well prepared to check for it before contamination cases occurred in Hong Kong.

"In mid-2007 melamine was found in pet food in the US. We realised it could become an issue in Hong Kong, so we started to collect information on testing methods, and the chemical reagents and accessories required [to test for it]," Mr Tsui said.

Such good preparation allowed the lab to produce reliable test results just a day after being asked for help by the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department on September 13, using the High Performance Liquid Chromatograph - Tandem Mass Spectrometer. The lab also simplified procedures for preparing the samples so testing time could be halved.

"The US Food & Drug Administration uses the solid phase extraction method for sample cleanup, which is necessary for detecting the trace level of melamine, but this is tedious. If we adopt that method we have to put in a huge amount of resources and manpower," Mr Tsui said.

"We felt we could simplify the procedure by using the liquid-liquid extraction cleanup method, which is to dilute the samples by 500 times to minimise the effect of any remaining interfering substances. It proved to be effective for detecting the level of melamine in food exceeding the requirement set by Hong Kong law."

Steadfast staff

Allocating manpower was a big challenge for the team as they had to produce results for 100 samples within 24 hours during the scare's peak period.

"We had to train our chemists and technicians to handle the tests quickly and to build a pool of reserves so we could take turns to rest," Mr Tsui said. "In the two months since September we had to work six or even seven days a week."

The lab also shared its experience with private laboratories by holding seminars on September 23 attended by representatives from 15 private labs.

Chemist Dr Tang Hau-san said they would not have completed the task smoothly without assistance from the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department and other colleagues.

"The workload was heavy for us but we did not want the melamine tests to affect our routine work, for example, we carried out urgent tests on formaldehyde in noodlefish in October," Dr Tang said.

"I am really grateful everyone on the team was so understanding and worked very hard in the past few months, and the other departments tried their best to work with us so we could produce accurate results on time."

Dependable department

Established in 1913, the lab provides a full range of analytical, investigatory and advisory services enabling government departments to deal with crime, health and safety, environmental, and other cases.

It has 437 staff, of which one-third are professional experts in various scientific disciplines.

It has applied for the Laboratory Accreditation Scheme managed by the Innovation & Technology Commission's accreditation service.

The Analytical & Advisory Services Division has a team of 229 professionals and technicians conducting close to 560,000 tests a year, mostly upon the request of other government departments or public bodies.