History

  • 1979
    Creation of "Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Nantes".
  • 1980 - 1985
    Development of a diagnostic activity in endocrinology applied first to cattle, then to pets. At the time, the Laboratory is known as LDH.
  • 1986
    First contacts with the DGAl. The various skills acquired by the Laboratory in the fields of endocrinology and radioimmunology are exploited for the control of the use of anabolic substances in calves.
  • 1989
    The DGAl chooses to designate LDH as LNR (European Directive CE 89/610 then Directive CE 93/257). The Laboratory takes on the name LDH/LNR and separates from LDH which keeps their diagnostic activities.
  • 1995
    First accreditation of LDH/LNR to EN45001 standard.
  • 2000
    The Laboratory is nominated as National Reference Laboratory for the control of dioxins. It then becomes LABERCA.
  • 2003
    In July, the Laboratory becomes National Reference Laboratory for PAH in food. The research unit gets a seal of approval from INRA (ALIM H Department). In addition, the research activities led in the LABERCA receive their first certification.
  • 2007
    Publication of the hundredth article in a peer-reviewed international journal.

Organisation

The LABERCA is a research unit of the ENVN and belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing. It is under the supervision of the DGER and the INRA (Alim H Department) for its research activities in the field of food chemical safety. It is the National Reference Laboratory for dioxins, PAH and growth promoters in cattle (DGAl).

Missions

For several years now, the LABERCA has been providing scientific and technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture (DGAl) and the European Commission (DG Trade and DG Sanco). In this respect, its main missions are as follows:
  • Methodological development, essentially based on Mass Spectrometry under all its forms (low and high resolution, MS only or MS/MS, quadrupole or magnetic field based, coupled to liquid or gas chromatography) for the analysis of natural and xenobiotic hormonal substances at trace level in food matrices, fluids and biological tissues;
  • Technological transfer of methods, developed and validated according to the applicable European criteria (Decision CE/2002/657), to a network of field laboratories;
  • Development of international relations with the European Commission and the Community Reference Laboratories.
In addition to these scientific and technical support activities, research has been considerably developed within the LABERCA over the past ten years. The laboratory's research activities have been assessed and have obtained the support of DGER since 1995 and INRA since 2003.
Higher education