DEAS 909: 2023  
ICS 65.080  
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                          Second  Edition 2023  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Fertilizers — Calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 909: 2023  
ii © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
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Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 909: 2023  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East Afr ican Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the Natio nal 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders incl uding government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incor porated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards . 
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standard s are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 020, Agriculture and 
agrochemicals . 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 909: 2023  
 
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  1 
 Fertilizers — Calcium am monium nitrate (CAN)  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African standard specifies  requirements , sampling and test methods for calcium ammonium 
nitrate (CAN) fertilizer.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensable for t he application of this document. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 965.08, Water (free) in fertilizers — Vacuum -desiccatio n 
AOAC 2006.03, Arsenic, Cadmium, Cobalt, Chromium, Lead, Molybdenum, Nickel and Selenium in fertilizers  
.ISO 5314 , Fertilizers – Determination of ammoniacal nitrogen content – Titrimetric method after distillation  
ISO 5315 , Fertilizers – Determination of to tal nitrogen content – Titrimetric method after distillation   
ISO 8157 , Fertilizers , soil conditioners  and beneficial substances  — Vocabulary   
ISO 8397 , Solid fertilizers and soil conditioners – Test sieving   
ISO 17318 , Fertilizers and soil conditioners — Determination of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and 
mercury contents  
ISO 14820 -1, Fertilizers and liming materials - Sampling and sample preparation - Part 1: Sampling  
 ISO 148 20-2, Fertilizers and liming materials - Sampling and sample preparation - Part 2: Sample preparation  
ISO 7409, Fertilizers  -Marking - Presentation and declarations  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purpose of this standard, terms and definitions given in ISO 8157 shall apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp   
2 © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
 4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1 The fertilizer shall be free flowing and shall be in prill  or granular form. It shall be free from lumps and 
foreign matter. CAN fertilizer shall be of uniform colour.  
4.1.2 When tested using  ISO 8397, at least  90 % by weight of the material shall be of particles in the size 
range of 1 mm to 4 mm for prill or 2  mm to 4 mm for granular form.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
CAN fertilizer shall consist of homogeneous granules/ prills of ammonium nitrate with a limestone filler and 
shall comply with the requirements given in Table 1  when tested in accordance with the te st methods 
prescribed therein . 
Table 1 — Requirements for calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Total nitrogen as N, % by mass, min.  26.0 ISO 5315  
ii.  Nitrate nitrogen, % by mass of total 
nitrogen   50 ± 2 Annex B  
iii.  Ammonical nitrogen, % by mass of 
total nitrogen   50 ± 2 ISO 5314  
iv.  Calcium oxide equiv. % by mass, min.  9 Annex A  
v.  Moisture, % by mass, max.  1.0 AOAC 965.08  
5 Contaminants  
Heavy metal contaminants in calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer  shall conform to t he limits given in Table 2 
when tested in accordance with the test methods prescribed therein . 
Table 2 — Requirements for heavy metal contaminants  in calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer  
S/N Heavy metal  Requirement , mg/kg, 
max.  Test m ethod  
i.  Arsenic  (As) 20 
ISO 17318  ii.  Cadmium  (Cd) 7 
iii.  Mercury  (Hg) 0.1 
iv.  Lead  (Pb) 30 
v.  Chromium  (Cr) 500 
vi.  Selenium  (Se)  1.0 AOAC 2006.03  
  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  3 
  
7 Packaging  
The fertilizer shall be packaged in materials that are clean and non -defective that protect the product from 
physical, ch emical and moisture contamination and withstand multiple stages of handling (transportation and 
storage).  
8 Labelling  
Each package shall be legibly and indelibly labeled in accordance with ISO 7409 in English and/or any other 
official language  in the desti nation country  with the following information:  
a) name of the fertili zer; “Calcium  Ammonium Nitrate (CAN)  fertilizer”   
b)  brand name  if any ; 
c) name and addres s of the manufacturer/importer;  
d) net content by mass, in metric units ; 
e) nutrient content;  
f) country of origin ; 
g) handling  instructions, including the words “ Use No Hooks ”; 
h) production date   
i)  expiry date;  
j) batch number ; and  
k) storage conditions . 
9 Sampling  
Sampling and sample preparation of calcium ammonium nitrate  fertilizers shall be carried out as prescribed in 
ISO 1 4820 -1 and ISO 14820 -2 respectively.  
  
4 © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
 Annex A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of calcium oxide  
A.1 Reagents  
For the purpose of this Draft East African Standard, only analytical grade reagents and distilled water shall be 
used . 
 
A.1.1  Concentrated hydrochloric acid  
A.1.2  Concentrated nitric acid   
A.1.3  Hydrofluoric acid  – 40 % 
A.1.4  Sodium carbonate  – solid 
A.1.5  Dilute hydrochloric acid  – 1:1 (v/v)  
A.1.6  Ammonium chloride  – solid 
A.1.7  Dilute acetic acid  – 1:1 (v/v)  
A.1.8  Ammonium oxalate  – solid 
A.1.9  Oxalic acid solution  – 1 g/L (m/v)  
A.1.10  Dilute sulphuric acid  – 1:4 (v/v)  
A.1.11  Standard potassium permanganate solution (0.1 N)  – Dissolve  3.2 g of potassium permanganate 
in 1 l of water. Let stand in the dark overnight. Filter, without washing, through glass  wool. Avoid contact with 
rubber or other organic material. Store in a dark -coloured glass -stoppered bottle. Standardized against 
standard sodium oxalate.  
A.2 Procedure  
For cases where preparation of reagents should be needed; the following procedures sho uld be followed:  
A.2.1 Transfer 0.5  g of sa mple that has been dried at 105 º C to a 400-ml tall from beaker. Dissolve, by 
boiling gently with 20  ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 10  ml of concentrated nitric acid, until the 
volume is reduced to about  10 ml. Covering the beaker by watch -glass throughout the process of dissolution, 
add 20  ml of concentrated nitric acid and then evaporate to a small volume. Wash the lower surface of the 
watch -glass into beaker with hot water, filter and wash collecting t he filtrate and washings in a 250 -ml 
measuring or volumetric flask. Preserve the filter and washings.  
A.2.2 Dry the residue and burn off the filter paper by ignition in a platinum crucible. Moisten the cooled 
residue with a few drops of a concentrated nitr ic acid and add about 10  ml of hydrofluoric acid. Evaporate 
continuously just to dryness, ignite and fuse the residue with about 2  g to 3 g of sodium carbonate. Extract the 
melt in about 25  ml - 30 ml of dilute hydrochloric acid in a beaker, evaporate to d ryness and bake. Extract the 
baked mass with about 10  ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid, dilute, filter and wash collecting the filtrate 
and washings in the same volumetric flask where in the first filtrate along with washings has been preserved 
under A.2.1. Cool the combined filtrates and make up to the mark.   
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  5 
 A.2.3 Pipette out exactly 100  ml from the solution in the volumetric flask under A.2.2  into a 400-ml beaker. 
Add sufficient ammonium chloride (about 15  ml) to hold magnesium in solution in presence  of ammonium 
oxalate. Add 20  ml of dilute acetic acid, heat to boiling point and add about 2  g of ammonium oxalate whi le 
stirring. Boil and allow the precipitate to settle for 1 h to 2 h, cool and filter the solution through a close filter 
paper. Wash the precipitate with hot water until free from oxalate.  
A.2.4 Dissolve the precipitate on the filter in about 50  ml of hot dilute hydrochloric acid. Wash the filter 
thoroughly with hot water until the filter is free from acid and collect the washings also in the same beaker in 
which calcium was first precipitated. Reduce the bulk to about 100  ml by evaporation and re -precipitate 
calcium as oxalate under A.2.3. 
A.2.5 Wash the precipitate of calcium oxalate into same beaker in which precipitation was first carri ed out 
and treat the filter with about 25  ml of warm (70 ºC – 80 ºC) dilute sulphuric acid for dissolving adhering 
precipitate of calcium oxalate. Wash the filter free from acid by means of hot water. Collect the washings also 
in the same beaker into which  the precipitate was transferred. Add about 25  ml more of dilute sulphuric acid 
and raise the temperature of contents to about 70  ºC. When the precipitate has dissolved, titrate with standard 
potassium permanganate solution until a permanent pale pink colo ur persists in solution.  
A.3 Calculation  
The calcium oxide content, expressed as percent by mass, shall be calculated as follows:  
=
CFBA 100 (0.028)   
where 
 
A is the volume , in millilitres, of standard potassium permanganate solution ; 
B is the normal ity of the standard potassium permanganate solution ; 
C is the mass , in gram s of the sample represented by the aliquot taken ; and  
F is the dilution factor .  
6 © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
 Annex B  
(normative)  
 
Determination of nitrate nitrogen  
B.1 Determination of total nitrogen  
Total nitr ogen shall be determined in accordance with ISO 5315 .  
B.2 Determination of ammoniacal nitrogen  
Ammoniacal nitrogen shall be determined in accordance with ISO 5314.  
B.3 Calculation of nitrate nitrogen  
Nitrate Nitrogen (%) = 
(N) nitrogen Ammoniacal (TN) nitrogen Total   
. DEAS 909: 2023    
 
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved