GC/MS detection of central nervous tissue as specified BSE risk material in meat products and meat and bone meals: thermal stability of markers in comparison with immunochemistry and RT-PCR

Methods for the detection of central nervous tissue (CNT) are urgently needed in food control as a means for controlling strict adherence to both food labeling and banning of specified BSE risk material. Here, we report data on heat stability of the CNT markers neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in western blotting, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in an enzyme linked immunoassay, mRNA_GFAP in a real-time PCR assay, and several fatty acids (C22:6, C24:0-OH, C24:1ω9/ω7, C24:1ω9-OH/ω7-OH, and C24:0) in gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The sample matrix, a standard material of emulsion-type sausage with varied contents of CNT (brain), was heat-treated in three studies: (1) routine meat technological heat treatment with low (85 °C, 30 min), medium (115 °C, 30 min), and high (133 °C, 30 min, 3 bar) heating of 72 anonymous samples from a blind trial; (2) heat treatment under experimental conditions (100, 110, …, 200 °C, 45 min); and (3) fractionized heating of central nervous system (up to three times) under moderate routine technological conditions (85, 100, and 115 °C, 30 min). The markers of the immunochemical methods showed a low GFAP or very low NSE temperature stability at medium and high temperature conditions. The real-time PCR assay gave inconsistent, non-quantitative results, which indicated an uncontrollable matrix effect. The relevant GC/MS markers (C24:0-OH, C24:1ω9/ω7, and C24:1ω9-OH/ω7-OH) proved to be extremely stable. Neither meat and bone meal conditions (133 °C) nor experimental heating (up to and above 140 °C) showed any reduction of GC/MS CNT quantification. On the contrary, a slight but significant increase was noted over a certain temperature range (120–140 °C) for most fatty acids, possibly due to an improved extractability of the fatty acids. We conclude that a quantitative approach is highly unreliable when using immunochemical methods; moreover, these methods might be basically prone to false-negative results depending on heat treatment and matrix composition. Therefore, antibodies with higher affinity to heat-treated CNT marker epitopes are needed. Relevant amounts of CNT (≥0.5%) in low- and medium-heated products would still be reliably detectable by the GFAP ELISA, which justifies its use as a screening method in official food control. The results obtained by the real-time PCR assay were contradictory to recently published data, indicating a need for further protocol optimization and collaborative trials. Up to date, the analytical approach using GC/MS is the only valid procedure as pertaining to heat stability and quantitative analysis; consequently, it should be recommended as the reference procedure in official food control for CNT detection in heat-treated meat products.     

Multiplex real-time PCR using SYBR® GreenER™ for the detection of DNA allergens in food

Thyroid hormones are essential hormones for regulating growth and development in humans and wildlife. Methods to monitor precise and low levels of these hormones in serum and tissues are needed to assess overall health, whether from disease considerations or possibly from environmental contaminant exposures. Common and routine methods typically rely upon radioimmunoassays, which can be expensive, and typically only measure thyroxine and 3,3′,5-triidothyronine, which can be a limitation in fully evaluating impacts on thyroid regulation. In this study we developed a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous analysis of five thyroid hormones—thyroxine, 3,3′,5-triidothyronine, 3,3′,5′-triiodothyronine, 3,3′-diiodothyronine, and 3,5-diiodothyronine—in serum samples. The LC-MS/MS parameters were optimized and calibrated over a wide concentration range (1.0–500 ng/mL) with on-column detection limits of 1.5–7.0 pg. With use of spiked bovine serum samples, the mean method recoveries were calculated to be 81.3–111.9% with relative standard deviations of 1.2–9.6% at spiking levels ranging from 10 to 100 ng/mL. This method was compared with measurements made by standard radioimmunoassays and with measurements made in a serum Standard Reference Material (SRM 1951b). Development of this method expands the capacity to measure thyroid hormones by including a larger suite of thyroid hormones, and has promising applications for measuring catabolism of thyroid hormones in vitro.     

Determination of different recreational drugs in hair by HS-SPME and GC/MS

A simple procedure combining headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to detect and quantify amphetamines, ketamine, methadone, cocaine, cocaethylene and ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hair is described. This procedure allows, in a single sample, even scant, analysis of drugs requiring different analytical conditions. A hair sample (10 mg) is washed and subjected to acidic hydrolysis. Then the HS-SPME is carried out (10 min at 90 °C) for amphetamines, ketamine, methadone, cocaine and cocaethylene. For derivatization of analytes, the fibre is introduced into the headspace of another closed vial containing acetic anhydride. After a chromatographic run, an alkaline hydrolysis for THC analysis is carried out in the same vial containing the hair sample previously used. For adsorption, the solid-phase microextraction needle is inserted into the headspace of the vial and the fibre is exposed for 30 min at 150 °C. For derivatization of analytes, the fibre is introduced into the headspace of another closed vial containing N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide. The GC/MS parameters were the same for both chromatographic runs. The linearity was proved to be between 0.01 and 10.00 ng/mg. The repeatability (intra- and interday precision) was below 10% as the coefficient of variation for all compounds. The accuracy, as the relative recovery, was 96.2–103.5% (spiked samples) and 88.6–101.7% (quality control sample). The limit of detection ranged from 0.01 to 0.12 ng/mg, and the limit of quantification ranged from 0.02 to 0.37 ng/mg. Application of the procedure to real hair samples is described. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed procedure combining HS-SPME and GC/MS is the first one be to successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of most of the common recreational drugs, including THC, in a single hair sample.     

Determination of ultra-trace levels of priority PBDEs in water samples by isotope dilution GC(ECNI)MS using 81Br-labelled standards

A gas chromatography electron capture negative ionization mass spectrometry (GC(ECNI)MS) procedure for the determination of priority polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs; congeners 28, 47, 99, 100, 153 and 154) in water samples at regulatory EU levels has been developed. The method is based on the use of ⁸¹Br-labelled PBDEs for isotope dilution analysis and the measurement of ⁷⁹Br/⁸¹Br isotope ratios in gas chromatography peaks with the electron capture negative ionization technique. The suitability of this ion source for the precise and accurate measurement of bromine isotope ratios has been demonstrated. The general ECNI-IDMS procedure was evaluated by the analysis of NIST SRM 1947 (Lake Michigan fish tissue) with satisfactory results. For the analysis of water samples, 500 mL of the samples were spiked with the labelled PBDEs and extracted with 10 mL isooctane for 30 min. The extract was evaporated down to ca. 100 μL and injected in the GC(ECNI)MS. Detection limits ranged from 0.014 ⁻¹ to 0.089 pg mL⁻¹ depending on the congener. Recoveries from real water samples, spiked at a level of 0.5 pg mL⁻¹, ranged from 77% to 102%.     

Ultra-trace analysis of pesticides by solid-phase extraction of surface water with carbopack B cartridges, combined with large-volume injection in gas chromatography

Summary A method has been developed for determination of twenty-four polar pesticides—nine organophosphorus pesticides, thirteen organonitrogen compounds, and two triazine degradation products—in surface water. It entails extraction of the target pesticides from 1-L water samples by solid-phase extraction (SPE), then gas chromatography (GC) with large-volume (40 μL) injection. Filtered surface water, from the St Lawrence River in Canada and the River Loire and its tributaries in France, was extracted on cartridges filled with 500 mg Carbopack B (120–400 mesh). Analysis was performed by gas chromatography with a thermionic specific detector (GC-TSD) and a mass spectrometric (MS) detector. Overall percentage recoveries were satisfactory (>70%) for all target pesticides, with precision below 10%. Detection limits were between 0.5 and 4 ng L⁻¹.     

Identification of 48 homologues of phosphatidylethanol in blood by LC-ESI-MS/MS

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is an abnormal phospholipid carrying two fatty acid chains. It is only formed in the presence of ethanol via the action of phospholipase D (PLD). Its use as a biomarker for alcohol consumption is currently under investigation. Previous methods for the analysis of PEth included high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD), which is unspecific for the different homologues—improved methods are now based on time of flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The intention of this work was to identify as many homologues of PEth as possible. A screening procedure using multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) for the identified homologues has subsequently been established. For our investigations, autopsy blood samples collected from heavy drinkers were used. Phosphatidylpropanol 16:0/18:1 (internal standard) was added to the blood samples prior to liquid–liquid extraction using borate buffer (pH 9), 2-propanol and n-hexane. After evaporation, the samples were redissolved in the mobile phase and injected into the LC-MS/MS system. Compounds were separated on a Luna Phenyl Hexyl column (50 mm × 2 mm, 3 μm) by gradient elution, using 2 mM ammonium acetate and methanol/acetone (95/5; v/v). A total of 48 homologues of PEth could be identified by using precursor ion and enhanced product ion scans (EPI).     

Peak assignment in multi-capillary column–ion mobility spectrometry using comparative studies with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for VOC analysis

Over the past years, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) as a well established method within the fields of military and security has gained more and more interest for biological and medical applications. This highly sensitive and rapid separation technique was crucially enhanced by a multi-capillary column (MCC), pre-separation for complex samples. In order to unambiguously identify compounds in a complex sample, like breath, by IMS, a reference database is mandatory. To obtain a first set of reference data, 16 selected volatile organic substances were examined by MCC-IMS and comparatively analyzed by the standard technique for breath research, thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Experimentally determined MCC and GC retention times of these 16 compounds were aligned and their relation was expressed in a mathematical function. Using this function, a prognosis of the GC retention time can be given very precisely according to a recorded MCC retention time and vice versa. Thus, unknown MCC-IMS peaks from biological samples can be assigned—after alignment via the estimated GC retention time—to analytes identified by GC/MS from equivalent accomplished data. One example of applying the peak assignment strategy to a real breath sample is shown in detail.     

Determination of closantel and rafoxanide in animal tissues by online anionic mixed-mode solid-phase extraction followed by isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid and high-throughput isotope dilution LC-MS/MS method with online sample pre-concentration and clean-up using anionic mixed-mode SPE was described for the determination of closantel and rafoxanide in edible bovine and ovine tissues. Tissue samples were extracted with acetonitrile and acetone mixture (60:40, v/v). Sample pre-concentration, clean-up and analysis were completed simultaneously with the online MAX SPE LC-MS/MS system. Closantel-(13) C(6) and rafoxanide-(13) C(6) were used as the internal standards to improve the precision of the method. The method was validated with edible ovine and bovine tissues (muscle, kidney and liver) fortified at three different levels. The accuracy and RSD were 86-106% and ≤14%, respectively. This high-throughput method was suitable for routine quantitative analysis of closantel and rafoxanide in food safety surveillance samples.     

Certified reference material for quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment from the National Metrology Institute of Japan

The National Metrology Institute of Japan has issued a certified reference material (CRM) of freshwater lake sediment for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) analyses. The certification used three extraction techniques: pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) with toluene, PLE with dichloromethane/ethyl acetate (1:1 by volume), and alkaline extraction (1 M KOH in methanol) in combination with microwave-assisted extraction. Both gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography/dopant-assisted atmospheric pressure photoionization/MS (LC/DA-APPI/MS) analyses were used. Certified values are provided for 18 PAHs at 1–25 μg kg⁻¹ except for perylene (2.08 × 10³ μg kg⁻¹), and information values are provided for two. Since the values of PAHs in the CRM are much lower than those in other CRMs and are comparable to those found at sites with little human influence, the CRM is suitable for PAH monitoring in sediment and soil samples.     

Rapid functionalization of carbon nanotube and its electrocatalysis

It was reported that carbon nanotube (CNT) was functionalized with the electroactive Nile blue (NB), which is a phenoxazine dye, by a method of adsorption to form a NB-CNT nanocomposite. The NB-CNT nanocomposite was characterized by several spectroscopic techniques, for example, Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) etc., and the results showed that NB could rapidly and effectively be adsorbed on the surface of CNT with a high stability without changing the native structure of NB and the structure properties of CNT. Moreover, it was shown that the dispersion ability of CNT in aqueous solution had a significantly improvement after CNT functionalized with NB even at a level of high concentration, for example, 5 mg of NB-CNT per 1 mL of H₂O. The NB-CNT/ glasssy carbon (GC) electrode was fabricated by modifying NB-CNT nanocomposite on the GC electrode surface and its electrochemical properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammetric results indicate that CNT can improve the electrochemical behavior of NB and greatly enhance its redox peak currents. While the NB-CNT/GC electrode exhibited a pair of well-defined and nearly symmetrical redox peaks with the formal potential of (−0.422±0.002) V (versus SCE, 0.1 mol/L PBS, pH 7.0), which was almost independent on the scan rates, for electrochemical reaction of NB monomer; and the redox peak potential of NB polymer located at about −0.191 V. The experimental results also demonstrated that NB and CNT could synergistically catalyze the electrochemically oxidation of NADH (β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, reduced form) and NB-CNT exhibited a high performance with lowing the overpotential of more than 560 mV. The NB-CNT/GC electrode could effectively sense the concentration of NADH, which was produced during the process of oxidation of substrate (e.g. ethanol) catalyzed by dehydrogenase (e.g. alcohol dehydrogenase). The presented method for functionalization of CNT had several advantages, such as rapid and facile CNT functionalization, easy electrode fabrication and high electrocatalytic activity, etc., and could be used for fabrication electrochemical biosensor on the basis of dehydrogenase. __________ Translated from Acta Chimica Sinica, 2007, 65(1): 1–9 [译自: 化学学报]     

Voltammetric detection of synthetic water-soluble phenolic antioxidants using carbon nanotube based electrodes

Glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) modified with carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been created for detection of phenolic compounds—one of the important group of antioxidants in life sciences. The surface of electrode has been characterized by atomic force microscopy. The presence of CNT leads to an at least 20-fold increase in the surface roughness of the electrode. The CNT layer displays closely intertwined vermicular structures with high degree of homogeneity at CNT suspension concentration of 0.2–0.5 mg L⁻¹. Synthetic water-soluble antioxidants (hydroquinone, catechol, pyrogallol, and their derivatives) are electrochemically active on bare GCE and CNT-modified GCE in phosphate buffer solution pH 7.4. Effect of substitutes in molecular structure of phenolic antioxidants has been evaluated. In several cases, oxidation at CNT-modified GCE occurs at potentials that are less positive by 100–200 mV in comparison to bare GCE. The electrodes were studied with respect to their capability of phenols voltammetric sensing. CNT-modified GCE display an enlarged linear range in the calibration graphs and lower detection limits. Voltammetric method for determination of hydroquinone, catechol, pyrogallol, and their derivatives has been developed.     

Analytical strategy based on the use of liquid chromatography and gas chromatography with triple-quadrupole and time-of-flight MS analyzers for investigating organic contaminants in wastewater

The presence of a wide variety of organic pollutants with different physicochemical characteristics has been investigated in wastewater samples from a municipal solid-waste-treatment plant in Castellón, Spain. An advanced analytical strategy was applied—combined used of two powerful and complementary techniques, GC and LC, both hyphenated with tandem mass spectrometry with triple-quadrupole analyzers. The GC–MS–MS method was based on sample extraction using C₁₈ SPE cartridges and enabled the determination of approximately 60 compounds from different chemical families, for example PAHs, octyl/nonylphenols, PCBs, organochlorine compounds, insecticides, herbicides, and PBDEs. Most of the compounds selected are included as priority contaminants in the European Union (EU) Water Directive. The UHPLC–MS–MS method, which provided high chromatographic resolution and sensitivity and short analysis time, used sample extraction with Oasis HLB SPE cartridges and enabled the determination of 37 (more polar) pesticides. The methodology developed was applied to the analysis of 41 water samples (20 untreated raw leachates and 21 treated samples) collected between March 2007 and February 2009. Amounts of the contaminants investigated rarely exceeded 0.5 μg L⁻¹ in the treated (reverse osmosis) water samples analyzed. As expected, in untreated leachates the number of compounds detected and the concentrations found were notably higher than in treated waters. The most commonly detected pollutants were herbicides (simazine, terbuthylazine, terbutryn, terbumeton, terbacil, and diuron), fungicides (thiabendazole and carbendazim), and 4-t-octylphenol. The results obtained proved that use of reverse osmosis for water treatment was efficient and notably reduced the amounts of organic contaminants found in raw leachate samples. In order to investigate the presence of other non-target contaminants, water samples were also analyzed by using GC–TOF MS and LC–QTOF MS. Several organic pollutants that did not form a part of the previous list of target contaminants were identified in the samples, because of the high sensitivity of TOF MS in full-spectrum acquisition mode and the valuable accurate-mass information provided by these instruments. The insecticide diazinon, the fungicide diphenylamide, the UV filter benzophenone, N-butylbenzenesulfonamide (N-BBSA), the insect repellent diethyltoluamide, caffeine, and the pharmaceuticals erythromycin, benzenesulfonanilide, ibuprofen, atenolol, and paracetamol were some of the compounds identified in the water samples analyzed.     

Determination of 16 insect growth regulators in edible Chinese traditional herbs by liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

A new sensitive multiresidue liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analytical method for the determination of 16 insect growth regulator (IGR) residues—RH-5849 (1,2-dibenzoyl-1-tert-butylhydrazine), halofenozide, methoxyfenozide, chromafenozide, fufenozide, tebufenozide, diflubenzuron, chlorbenzuron, triflumuron, hexaflumuron, novaluron, lufenuron, teflubenzuron, flucycloxuron, flufenoxuron, and chlorfluazuron—in herbs (Perilla frutescens, flos chrysanthemi, lily bulbs, and ginger) has been developed. After the herbs had been extracted with acetonitrile, a combined graphitized nonporous carbon/aminopropyl (ENVI-Carb/LC-NH₂) cartridge and a Florisil cartridge were used to clean up the extracts. LC-MS/MS was performed in multiple reaction monitoring mode with two specific precursor ion–product ion transitions per IGR to confirm and quantitate the residues in herbs. Quantitation was performed on the basis of matrix-matched calibrations. The method showed excellent linearity (r ² > 0.99) and precision (relative standard deviations of 13.6 or lower) for all the target insecticides. The limits of quantitation were 0.6-10 μg kg^-1 for the 16 insecticides in the four herbs. The average recoveries, measured at three concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 1 mg kg^-1), were in the range 74.8-105.3%. The method was satisfactorily applied for the analysis of 60 herb samples (Perilla frutescens, flos chrysanthemi, lily bulbs, and ginger). Hexaflumuron was detected at concentrations of 0.029 and 0.051 mg kg^-1 in Perilla frutescens.     

Determination of 11 priority pollutant phenols in wastewater using dispersive liquid—liquid microextraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography—diode-array detection

Dispersive liquid—liquid microextraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography—diode-array detection was applied for the extraction and determination of 11 priority pollutant phenols in wastewater samples. The analytes were extracted from a 5-mL sample solution using a mixture of carbon disulfide as the extraction solvent and acetone as the dispersive solvent. After extraction, solvent exchange was carried out by evaporating the solvent and then reconstituting the residue in a mixture of methanol–water (30:70). The influences of different experimental dispersive liquid—liquid microextraction parameters such as extraction solvent type, dispersive solvent type, extraction and dispersive solvent volume, salt addition, and pH were studied. Under optimal conditions, namely pH 2, 165-μL extraction solvent volume, 2.50-mL dispersive solvent volume, and no salt addition, enrichment factors and limits of detection ranged over 30–373 and 0.01–1.3 μg/L, respectively. The relative standard deviation for spiked wastewater samples at 10 μg/L of each phenol ranged between 4.3 and 19.3% (n = 5). The relative recovery for wastewater samples at a spiked level of 10 μg/L varied from 65.5 to 108.3%.     

Detectability of testosterone esters and estradiol benzoate in bovine hair and plasma following pour-on treatment

The abuse of synthetic esters of natural steroids such as testosterone and estradiol in cattle fattening and sports is hard to detect via routine urine testing. The esters are rapidly hydrolysed in vivo into substances which are also endogenously present in urine. An interesting alternative can be provided by the analysis of the administered synthetic steroids themselves, i.e., the analysis of intact steroid esters in hair by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). However, retrospective estimation of the application date following a non-compliant finding is hindered by the complexity of the kinetics of the incorporation of steroid esters in hair. In this study, the incorporation of intact steroid esters in hair following pour-on treatment has been studied and critically compared with results from intramuscular treatment. To this end animals were pour-on treated with a hormone cocktail containing testosterone cypionate, testosterone decanoate and estradiol benzoate in different carriers. The animals were either treated using injection and pour-on application once or three times having 1 week between treatments using injection and pour-on application. Animals were slaughtered from 10–12 weeks after the last treatment. Both hair and blood plasma samples were collected and analysed by LC/MS/MS. From the results, it is concluded that after single treatment the levels of steroid esters in hair drop to CCβ levels (5–20 μg/kg) after 5–7 weeks. When treatment is repeated two times, the CCβ levels are reached after 9–11 weeks. Furthermore, in plasma, no steroid esters were detected; not even at the low microgramme per litre level but—in contrast with the pour-on application—after i.m. injection, significant increase of 17β-testosterone and 17β-estradiol were observed. These observations suggest that transport of steroid esters after pour-on application is not only performed by blood but also by alternative fluids in the animal so probably the steroid esters are already hydrolysed and epimerized before entering the blood.     

Validation of ELISA screening and LC–MS/MS confirmation methods for cocaine in hair after simple extraction

This article describes an easy and innovative extraction procedure for cocaine and its primary metabolite, benzoylecgonine (BE), from hair consisting of sonication with H₂O/0.1% formic acid for 4 h. The same extract was used for screening with an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and confirmation by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). For the ELISA screening test a cutoff of 0.5 ng/mg was used according to the Society of Hair Testing recommendations. LC–MS/MS limits of detection (LODs) were established to be 10 pg/mg and 1 pg/mg for cocaine and BE, respectively. Linearity was obtained over a range of 0.2–5 ng/mg for BE (target analyte) in the ELISA screening test, while in the LC–MS/MS method the range was 0.10–10 ng/mg for cocaine and 0.01–10 ng/mg for BE. Intra- and interbatch coefficients of variation and mean relative errors were less than 20% for all analytes and concentrations studied. The validated ELISA and LC–MS/MS methods were applied to 48 hair samples and the results of both methods were compared; ELISA demonstrated a sensitivity and specificity of 89.2% and 10.8%.     

Species-specific identification of ruminant components contaminating industrial crude porcine heparin using real-time fluorescent qualitative and quantitative PCR

Ever since the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the source of pharmaceutical heparin has been restricted to porcine intestinal mucosa. In this project, two real-time fluorescent PCR methods were developed to assist with quality control analysis. The first is a qualitative method which relies on SYBR Green I chemistry to confirm the porcine origin of industrial crude porcine heparin (ICPH), identify any ruminant contaminants, and generally control purity. The second is based on TaqMan chemistry and is able to quantitatively identify porcine, bovine, caprine, and ovine components and contaminants in ICPH. By targeting mitochondrial DNA, both PCR systems showed a detection limit of 1 pg DNA and amplification efficiencies ranging between 96% and 102%. Moreover, quantitative PCR showed a detection limit of 0.02 ppm in samples comprising porcine, bovine, caprine, and ovine DNA. The results of qualitative PCR over 27 ICPH samples showed that all samples were porcine in origin and that 17 had ruminant contaminants. The results of quantitative PCR further showed that out of all 17 samples with ruminant contaminants, seven samples had bovine, ovine, and caprine contaminants, two samples had bovine and ovine contaminants, and eight samples had only ovine contaminants. In conclusion, the qualitative PCR system was found to be a relatively inexpensive, rapid, and flexible method of identifying the porcine origin of and ruminant contaminants in ICPH, while the quantitative PCR was found suitable to accurately analyze the components and contaminants in detail. Both methods are suitable for routine control assays for the evaluation of ICPH purity and origins of contaminants.     

Development of radiation indicators to distinguish between irradiated and non-irradiated herbal medicines using HPLC and GC-MS

The effects of high dose γ-irradiation on six herbal medicines were investigated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Herbal medicines were irradiated at 0–50 kGy with ⁶⁰Co irradiator. HPLC was used to quantify changes of major components including glycyrrhizin, cinnamic acid, poncirin, hesperidin, berberine, and amygdalin in licorice, cinnamon bark, poncirin immature fruit, citrus unshiu peel, coptis rhizome, and apricot kernel. No significant differences were found between gamma-irradiated and non-irradiated samples with regard to the amounts of glycyrrhizin, berberine, and amygdalin. However, the contents of cinnamic acid, poncirin, and hesperidin were increased after irradiation. Volatile compounds were analyzed by GC/MS. The relative proportion of ketone in licorice was diminished after irradiation. The relative amount of hydrocarbons in irradiated cinnamon bark and apricot kernel was higher than that in non-irradiated samples. Therefore, ketone in licorice and hydrocarbons in cinnamon bark and apricot kernel can be considered radiolytic markers. Three unsaturated hydrocarbons, i.e., 1,7,10-hexadecatriene, 6,9-heptadecadiene, and 8-heptadecene, were detected only in apricot kernels irradiated at 25 and 50 kGy. These three hydrocarbons could be used as radiolytic markers to distinguish between irradiated (>25 kGy) and non-irradiated apricot kernels.     

Evaluation of an analytical method for determining phthalate esters in wine samples by solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography coupled with ion-trap mass spectrometer detector

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method was developed for extraction and analysis of six phthalate esters in wine samples using Carbograph 1 sorbent. The SPE procedure allowed efficient recovery of the investigated phthalates ranging between 78% and 105% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) ≤6.5 for an ethanolic phthalic acid ester (PAE) standard solution and between 73–71% and 96–99% with a RSD ≤8.4 for red wine samples spiked with 20 and 50 ng mL⁻¹ of PAE, respectively. The adsorption isotherms and breakthrough curves for Carbograph 1/water solution were reported. Gas chromatography coupled with an ion-trap mass spectrometer detector (GC/IT-MS) was used for analysis. The instrumental analytical protocol was found to yield a linear calibration in the range 0.01-10.0 μg mL⁻¹ with R ² values ≥0.9992. The limits of detection in GC/IT-MS (SIM mode) vary between 0.2 and 14 ng mL⁻¹ (RSD ≤5.6) whereas the limits of quantification range between 0.5 and 25 ng mL⁻¹ (RSD ≤5.9); the intra- and inter-day repeatabilities calculated as RSD for wine samples, were between 0.9–7.8 and 1.0–10.5, respectively. The analytical method developed was applied to several commercial wine samples. Furthermore, the investigated methods are simple, reliable, reproducible, and not expensive.     

Development and evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method for the measurement of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in human urine

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was developed to quantitatively measure 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in human urine. Samples were diluted (1:5) with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.05% Tween and 0.02% sodium azide, with analysis by a 96-microwell plate immunoassay format. No clean up was required as dilution step minimized sample interferences. Fifty urine samples were received without identifiers from a subset of pesticide applicators and their spouses in an EPA pesticide exposure study (PES) and analyzed by the ELISA method and a conventional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) procedure. For the GC/MS analysis, urine samples were extracted with acidic dichloromethane (DCM); methylated by diazomethane and fractionated by a Florisil solid phase extraction (SPE) column prior to GC/MS detection. The percent relative standard deviation (%R.S.D.) of the 96-microwell plate triplicate assays ranged from 1.2 to 22% for the urine samples. Day-to-day variation of the assay results was within ±20%. Quantitative recoveries (>70%) of 2,4-D were obtained for the spiked urine samples by the ELISA method. Quantitative recoveries (>80%) of 2,4-D were also obtained for these samples by the GC/MS procedure. The overall method precision of these samples was within ±20% for both the ELISA and GC/MS methods. The estimated quantification limit for 2,4-D in urine was 30 ng/mL by ELISA and 0.2 ng/mL by GC/MS. A higher quantification limit for the ELISA method is partly due to the requirement of a 1:5 dilution to remove the urine sample matrix effect. The GC/MS method can accommodate a 10:1 concentration factor (10 mL of urine converted into 1 mL organic solvent for analysis) but requires extraction, methylation and clean up on a solid phase column. The immunoassay and GC/MS data were highly correlated, with a correlation coefficient of 0.94 and a slope of 1.00. Favorable results between the two methods were achieved despite the vast differences in sample preparation. Results indicated that the ELISA method could be used as a high throughput, quantitative monitoring tool for human urine samples to identify individuals with exposure to 2,4-D above the typical background levels.