Summary
The contractor shall conduct testing of up to 150 selected infant formula samples for the presence of four heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead and to conduct arsenic speciation (to differentiate between organic and inorganic arsenic), and the quantity of those metals, if present. These infant formula products will be provided by GAO. The infant formula samples will be provided by GAO in secondary containers labeled with internal identifiers based on product and batch number (e.g. “A1” and “B1” to denote the first and second batch of formula 1, respectively) to remove bias based on brand. GAO will also provide an empty nondescript container for the laboratory for testing to verify that the heavy metal quantities were not affected by the new container. GAO will specify methods to store samples and the order to conduct testing. See attached file.