Evaluation of gas chromatography – electron ionization – full scan high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry for pesticide residue analysis

Método cualitativo rápido (screening) para la detección de residuos de plaguicidas en frutas y hortalizas

Debido a la importancia de desarrollar metodologías que permitan el análisis de los residuos agrícolas, el presente trabajo validó un método cualitativo rápido (screening) para el análisis de residuos de plaguicidas en frutas y hortalizas. La metodología se basó en el método de extracción QuEChERS, versión europea, con un paso adicional de limpieza por cromatografía de permeación por gel (GPC), lo cual permitió reducir la cantidad de componentes de la matriz en el extracto final. El análisis fue realizado por cromatografía de gases/espectrometría de masas con un analizador cuadrupolo simple. La metodología resultó adecuada para el análisis cualitativo de 31 plaguicidas a su respectivo límite máximo de residuos. Los resultados en muestras reales fueron consistentes respecto a una metodología cuantitativa de rutina, por ende, la metodología resultó ser una buena alternativa para el análisis rápido de estos contaminantes.

Current state of bioanalytical chromatography in clinical analysis

Chromatographic methods have become popular in clinical analysis in both routine and research laboratories.

Recent applications of gas chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry

Gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical method that combines excellent separation power of gas chromatography with improved identification based on an accurate mass measurement. These features designate gas chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry as the first choice for identification and structure elucidation of unknown volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds. Gas chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry quantitative analyses was previously focused on the determination of dioxins and related compounds using magnetic sector type analyzers, a standing requirement of many international standards. The introduction of a quadrupole high-resolution time-of-flight mass analyzer broadened interest in this method and novel applications were developed, especially for multi-target screening purposes. This review is focused on the development and the most interesting applications of gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry towards analysis of environmental matrices, biological fluids, and food safety since 2010. The main attention is paid to various approaches and applications of gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry for non-target screening to identify contaminants and to characterize the chemical composition of environmental, food, and biological samples. The most interesting quantitative applications, where a significant contribution of gas chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry over the currently used methods is expected, will be discussed as well.

Applications of the fractional calculus to study the physical theory of ion motion in a quadrupole ion trap

In this article, fractional calculus has been applied to study the motion of ions in a three-dimensional radio frequency quadrupole ion trap; we have called this arrangement a fractional quadrupole ion trap. The main purpose of the article is to show that by controlling the fractional parameter of a trapped ion, one can gain a more efficient mass separation. In what follows, we will see that with decreasing the fractional parameter, we can achieve a smaller first stability region. Note that a small stability diagram will result in a good and acceptable mass separation. Various methods can be proposed to obtain a desired ion acceleration with a sufficient accuracy for good mass separation, which is similar to the one obtained by a fractional ion trap. Some of these methods are using the effects of a damping force, a magnetic field or both on the confinement of particles in the quadrupole ion trap. The first stability regions are plotted for all of the aforementioned methods, and simulation results are provided to compare them with those for the fractional case.

Quantifying Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffin Congener Groups

Accurate quantification of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) poses an exceptional challenge to analytical chemists. SCCPs are complex mixtures of chlorinated alkanes with variable chain length and chlorination level; congeners with a fixed chain length (n) and number of chlorines (m) are referred to as a "congener group" C_nCl_m. Recently, we resolved individual C_nCl_m by mathematically deconvolving soft ionization high-resolution mass spectra of SCCP mixtures. Here we extend the method to quantifying C_nCl_m by introducing C_nCl_m specific response factors (RFs) that are calculated from 17 SCCP chain-length standards with a single carbon chain length and variable chlorination level. The signal pattern of each standard is measured on APCI-QTOF-MS. RFs of each C_nCl_m are obtained by pairwise optimization of the normal distribution's fit to the signal patterns of the 17 chain-length standards. The method was verified by quantifying SCCP technical mixtures and spiked environmental samples with accuracies of 82-123% and 76-109%, respectively. The absolute differences between calculated and manufacturer-reported chlorination degrees were -0.9 to 1.0%Cl for SCCP mixtures of 49-71%Cl. The quantification method has been replicated with ECNI magnetic sector MS and ECNI-Q-Orbitrap-MS. C_nCl_m concentrations determined with the three instruments were highly correlated (R² > 0.90) with each other.

Integrated Framework for Identifying Toxic Transformation Products in Complex Environmental Mixtures

Complex environmental mixtures consist of hundreds to thousands of unknown and unregulated organic compounds that may have toxicological relevance, including transformation products (TPs) of anthropogenic organic pollutants. Non-targeted analysis and suspect screening analysis offer analytical approaches for potentially identifying these toxic transformation products. However, additional tools and strategies are needed in order to reduce the number of chemicals of interest and focus analytical efforts on chemicals that may pose risks to humans and the environment. This brief review highlights recent developments in this field and suggests an integrated framework that incorporates complementary instrumental techniques, computational chemistry, and toxicity analysis, for prioritizing and identifying toxic TPs in the environment.