In 2025, as part of the Pets Diag offering, the Mineralco laboratory performed 25 elemental analyses of horse hair using the ICP-OES method for the purposes of scientific research conducted by the Student Scientific Association at the University of Rzeszów.
The scope of the study included the assessment of macro- and microelements, as well as potentially toxic elements in biological material. The analytical results were used in research projects carried out as part of the university’s scientific activities.
In 2023, the Pets Diag laboratory conducted pilot elemental analyses of European bison hair for research carried out by the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The study was preliminary in nature and formed part of preparations for further research on the mineral status of free-ranging animals. The scope of the analyses included the determination of selected macro- and microelements, as well as potentially toxic elements, using the ICP-OES method.
Since 2017, the Pets Diag laboratory (now Mineralco) has maintained continuous scientific collaboration with the University of Agriculture in Kraków in the interpretation of elemental analysis results using the EHAA method, as well as in the further development of research methodologies.
Until 2024, the collaboration included scientific consultations on analytical results for dogs, cats, and horses. It currently focuses on consultations of EHAA results for horses. The consultations were conducted in cooperation with Dr. Olga Lasek and MSc Eng. Katarzyna Żmuda, and are currently carried out in cooperation with Dr Eng. Romana Augustyn.
As part of the collaboration, thematic webinars, publications promoting elemental analysis, and educational materials for users of the Pets Diag services are developed. These activities contribute to the standardization of analytical methods and the further development of the laboratory’s research services.
In 2019–2020, as part of the continued collaboration with the University of Agriculture in Kraków, the Pets Diag laboratory developed reference values for elements in cats and horses.
The research was conducted in cooperation with the scientific team of the Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology, as well as with units specializing in animal nutrition and breeding, including the current Department of Animal Nutrition and Fisheries and the Horse Breeding Unit.
The work on establishing reference values and developing the commercial EHAA product for cats and horses involved, among others, Dr. Olga Lasek, MSc Eng. Katarzyna Żmuda, and Dr Eng. Romana Augustyn.
The developed reference values enabled the expansion of elemental analyses to additional animal species and the implementation of testing on a broader scale.
In 2017, the Lifeline Diag laboratory (performing elemental analyses for humans) established cooperation with the University of Agriculture in Kraków, then operating within the Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology and a unit specializing in animal nutrition (currently the Department of Animal Nutrition and Fisheries).
As part of the collaboration, reference values for elements in dog hair were developed, forming the basis for the implementation of pilot EHAA testing for dogs in 2018 and the further development of elemental analyses in companion animals (within the Pets Diag laboratory established in 2019). The work was carried out in cooperation with the university’s scientific team, including Dr. Olga Lasek.
