Reliability of proficiency test results for metals and phthalates in plastics

In a recent article it was concluded that the Horwitz curve could not be used for evaluation of results from analysis of plastics. This conclusion was based on 15 different proficiency tests of which 11 were organized by the Institute for Interlaboratory Studies. The authors suggest that part of the poor interlaboratory reproducibility can be explained by the inhomogeneity of consumer plastic products. Also, the lack of standard methods has been mentioned as problematic. The value of the iis data sets used by the authors is discussed in this paper. More recent data are also investigated to determine whether the situation with regard to analysis of plastics is as bad as suggested by Ritter and Meyer.     

The Horwitz ratio (HorRat): A useful index of method performance with respect to precision

The Horwitz ratio (HorRat) is a normalized performance parameter indicating the acceptability of methods of analysis with respect to among-laboratory precision (reproducibility). It is the ratio of the observed relative standard deviation among laboratories calculated from the actual performance data, RSDR (%), to the corresponding predicted relative standard deviation calculated from the Horwitz equation PRSDR (%) = 2C(-0.15), where C is the concentration found or added, expressed as a mass fraction. It is more or less independent of analyte, matrix, method, and time of publication (as a surrogate for the state of the art of analytical chemistry). It is now one of the acceptability criteria for many of the recently adopted chemical methods of analysis of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, the European Union, and other European organizations dealing with food analysis (e.g., European Committee for Standardization and Nordic Analytical Committee). The origin and applications of the formula are described. Consistent deviations from the ratio on the low side (values <0.5) may indicate unreported averaging or excellent training and experience; consistent deviations on the high side (values >2) may indicate inhomogeneity of the test samples, need for further method optimization or training, operating below the limit of determination, or an unsatisfactory method.     

Quantitative aspects of analyzing small molecules – monitoring singly or doubly charged ions? A case study of ximelagatran

Precision, reproducibility and lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) are important characteristics of a quantitative method. We have investigated these properties for Ximelagatran (Xi), which has a high tendency to form doubly charged ions in electrospray ionization (ESI), by studying the percentage of doubly charged species formed when varying the formic acid (FA) concentration, analyte concentration, amount of organic modifier and flow rate. It was found that the percentage of [Xi + 2H]²⁺ can be controlled to be more than 90% or less than 10% by varying the amount of FA present, and that the change between these values is dramatic. Furthermore, the percentage of [Xi + 2H]²⁺ formed decreases with increased analyte concentration and increased flow rate. No apparent relationship with the amount of organic modifier was found. The results have the implication that, by carefully controlling the selected parameters, the LLOQ, precision and reproducibility can be improved. We have compared the fragmentation of the singly and doubly charged species and concluded that the [Xi + 2H]²⁺ ion is more inclined to undergo fragmentation than [Xi + H]⁺. As a consequence, unusual instrumental settings had to be used for the experiments. The fragmentation patterns are to a great extent similar, but the doubly charged species is more inclined to generate low‐mass product ions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rational approach to quantitative sodium dodecyl sulfate capillary gel electrophoresis of monoclonal antibodies

Sodium dodecyl sulfate capillary gel electrophoresis has been used to separate and quantify murine monoclonal antibodies. The method uses a murine IgG, whose subclass differs from the analyte antibody, as an internal reference. The internal reference is chosen based on knowing that mouse IgG1 can be separated from mouse IgG2a or IgG2b. Good intra- and inter-day reproducibility [relative standard deviation (RSD)<2%] of peak-area ratio has been obtained. A calibration curve also demonstrates high linearity (R2=0.9999) of response for the analyte. The described method is highly suitable for accurate determination of the antibody concentration even if a capillary electrophoresis apparatus is unable to provide good injection reproducibility.     

A spatial distribution study of analyte concentration in solid substrate surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

As surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy becomes more widely used as a technique for routine analysis, attention must be given to factors which affect the reproducibility of the technique. One such factor which has not been considered is the effect of the spatial distribution of molecules in an analyte spot on a solid SERS substrate. In this study, we demonstrate that the spatial distribution of analyte can be quite non-uniform due to chromatographic interactions between the analyte molecules, solvent and support used. The SERS signal obtained is highly dependent on the position of the laser beam in the analyte spot. The SERS signal is also dependent on the relative sizes of the analyte spot and the laser beam at the sample. This latter dependence can not be explained with current theoretical treatments. However, we demonstrate that a simple modification of the current theory can qualitatively explain the results we observe.     

On determining a 1-tailed upper limit for future sample HorRat values

Two formulas were developed for use in computing 1-tailed upper limits for future HorRat values obtained from the collaborative study of materials. One formula is applicable when a future sample HorRat value H [formula: see text] is computed based on a known concentration (e.g., C = spike level and RSD(R) is the sample relative reproducibility standard deviation) and the other formula is applicable when the true concentration (C) is unknown and a future sample HorRat value [formula: see text] is computed using the sample mean (e.g., y, the collaborative study overall mean for an analyte). A Monte Carlo simulation procedure was developed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software to assess the accuracy of the 2 developed formulas. Based on the degree of closeness between the simulated and calculated limits, the formulas for computing upper limits for future sample HorRat values will prove to be useful to Study Directors in determining worst case scenarios concerning a method's reproducibility precision relative to that predicted using the "Horwitz equation". We also define the current empirical HorRat limits as 1-tailed 100p% upper limits to assess the statistical consequence, in a probability sense, of their application as an analytical methods screening tool.     

Estimation of measurement uncertainty in pesticide residue analysis

Proficiency test results from 5 countries involving 61 separate interlaboratory proficiency tests for pesticide residues were examined in this study. A total of 24 different matrixes and 869 relative standard deviations of the mean (or median) pesticide residue concentration were statistically evaluated in relation to the Horwitz function. The aim was to determine whether or not the concentration-dependent relationship described by Horwitz would hold for the much narrower range of chemicals and concentrations covered in routine pesticide residue analysis. Although for fatty (animal-derived) matrixes the variability increased as the concentration decreased in line with the Horwitz equation, the between-laboratories relative standard deviations for nonfatty matrixes (fruit, vegetables, and grain) remained at 25% over the entire concentration range of 1 microg/kg to 10 mg/kg for the pesticides studied. Given these findings, the Horwitz equation remains valid for calculating uncertainties involving pesticide residues in fatty matrixes. However, for pesticide residue analyses involving nonfatty matrixes, a constant relative standard deviation of 25% is more appropriate for calculating uncertainties, particularly when a reported result is assessed against a regulatory limit.     

Precipitate pattern formation in fluctuating media

Simulation of the Liesegang pattern formation in low concentration gradient is presented using concentration perturbation in a deterministic model. The precipitation process is based on ion-product supersaturation theory (Ostwald's model). In the classical experiments with high initial concentration gradients, appearance time and locations of the band formation are well reproducible. Decreasing initial concentration gradients results in a more stochastic pattern structure; this means that the reproducibility of the experiments becomes worse. The presented model and the results of the simulations exhibit the same trend, which were demonstrated and investigated experimentally by Kai et al.     

Understanding the dynamics of signal transduction for adsorption of gases and vapors on carbon nanotube sensors

Adsorption dynamics and their influence on signal transduction for carbon nanotube-based chemical sensors are explored using continuum site balance equations and a mass action model. These sensors are shown to possess both reversible and irreversible binding sites that can be modeled independently. For the case of irreversible adsorption, it is shown that the characteristic response time scales inversely with analyte concentration. It is inappropriate to report a detection limit for this type of sensor since any nonzero analyte concentration can be detected in theory but at a cost of increasing transduction time with decreasing concentration. The response curve should examine the initial rate of signal change as a function of analyte concentration. Conversely, a reversible sensor has a predefined detection limit, independent of the detector geometry with a characteristic time scaling that becomes constant in the zero analyte concentration limit. A simple analytical test is presented to distinguish between these two mechanisms from the transient response of a nanotube sensor array. Two systems appearing in the literature are shown to have an irreversible component, and regressed surface rate constants for this component are similar across different sensor geometries and analytes.     

Use of characteristic functions derived from proficiency testing data to evaluate measurement uncertainties

Interlaboratory comparisons show that reproducibility standard deviations are dependent on the concentration of the analyte. Many attempts have been made to model this. In this paper, ??characteristic?? functions are used for modelling the concentration dependence of the reproducibility standard deviations based on data from proficiency tests for water analysis. The characteristics of the resulting functions can be used for the estimation of measurement uncertainties at different concentration levels. These functions are especially useful to determine the concentration levels below which absolute uncertainties tend to be constant and above which the relative uncertainties are more constant. By comparing the characteristic functions of different analytical procedures for the determination of the same analyte, the performance of these procedures under routine application can be compared. Finally, these functions may be used to get an indication on the average quality of analytical result in a specific field to be used by regulators in order to formulate requirements in the legislation that are in accordance with current measurement quality.     

Computation of HORRAT values

The formula for the Horwitz ratio (HORRAT) as presented in the Study Director's Manual of AOAC INTERNATIONAL is applicable only when the concentration is in the unit/unit form (e.g., microg/microg, g/g, etc.). When the analyte concentration is a trace or mass fraction amount (e.g., microg/g), the formula generates incorrect HORRAT values. Alternative calculation procedures are presented to circumvent such problems.     

Paper spray tandem mass spectrometry: A rapid approach for the assay of parabens in cosmetics and drugs

A fast methodology for the assay of parabens in drug and cosmetic preparations has been presented. The procedure developed is based on paper spray tandem mass spectrometry and isotope dilution approach. For each investigated paraben, the corresponding labeled standard has been used in order to improve the accuracy and reproducibility of the analyses. The MS experiments have been performed under MRM conditions, monitoring the transitions [M‐H]^? → m/z 92 and [M‐H]^? → m/z 98, respectively, for each analyte and the corresponding labeled internal standard. The quantitative assay has been performed using a calibration curve built from 2 to 15 mg/L. The method accuracy, in all case near 100%, was evaluated using fortified samples at two concentration levels, which are representative of the lower and the higher portion of calibration curve. The good values of LOQ, LOD, and reproducibility confirm the consistency of the developed approach.     

Direct quantitative analysis of peptides using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization

The protocol and various matrices were examined for quantification of biomolecules in both the low ca. 1200 amu and mid mass 6000-12000 amu ranges using an internal standard. Comparative studies of different matrices of MALDI quantitative analysis showed that the best accuracy and standard curve linearity were obtained for two matrices: (a) 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) combined with a comatrix of fucose and 5-methoxysalicylic acid (MSA) and (b) ferulic acid/fucose. In the low mass range, the quantitative limit was in the 30 fmol range and in the mid mass range the quantitative limit was in the 250 fmol range. Linear response was observed over 2-3 decades of analyte concentration. The relative error of the standard curve slope was 1.3-1.8% with correlation coefficients of 0.996-0.998.The main problem for quantitative measurement was suppression of the signal of the less concentrated component (analyte or internal standard) by the more concentrated component. The effect was identified with saturation of the matrix by the analyte. The threshold of matrix saturation was found to be in the range of 1/(3000-5000) analyte/matrix molar ratio. To avoid matrix saturation the (analyte+internal standard) to matrix molar ratio should be below this threshold. Thus the internal standard concentration should be as low as possible.DHB/MSA/fucose and ferulic acid/fucose matrices demonstrated good accuracy and linearity for standard curves even when the internal standard had chemical properties different from the analyte. However, use of an internal standard with different chemical properties requires highly stable instrumental parameters as well as constant (analyte+internal standard)/matrix molar ratio for all samples.     

Direct quantitative analysis of peptides using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization

The protocol and various matrices were examined for quantification of biomolecules in both the low ca. 1200 amu and mid mass 6000–12000 amu ranges using an internal standard. Comparative studies of different matrices of MALDI quantitative analysis showed that the best accuracy and standard curve linearity were obtained for two matrices: (a) 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) combined with a comatrix of fucose and 5-methoxysalicylic acid (MSA) and (b) ferulic acid/fucose. In the low mass range, the quantitative limit was in the 30 fmol range and in the mid mass range the quantitative limit was in the 250 fmol range. Linear response was observed over 2–3 decades of analyte concentration. The relative error of the standard curve slope was 1.3–1.8% with correlation coefficients of 0.996–0.998.The main problem for quantitative measurement was suppression of the signal of the less concentrated component (analyte or internal standard) by the more concentrated component. The effect was identified with saturation of the matrix by the analyte. The threshold of matrix saturation was found to be in the range of 1/(3000–5000) analyte/matrix molar ratio. To avoid matrix saturation the (analyte+internal standard) to matrix molar ratio should be below this threshold. Thus the internal standard concentration should be as low as possible.DHB/MSA/fucose and ferulic acid/fucose matrices demonstrated good accuracy and linearity for standard curves even when the internal standard had chemical properties different from the analyte. However, use of an internal standard with different chemical properties requires highly stable instrumental parameters as well as constant (analyte+internal standard)/matrix molar ratio for all samples.     

Examination of proficiency and control recovery data from analyses for pesticide residues in food: sources of variability.

We examined a number of large proficiency and control databases supporting the values reported for pesticide residues in agricultural commodities at fractions of a part per million (mg/kg). The average recovery from >100,000 recovery records in 13 databases was 94%. The overall average single-value relative standard deviation (RSD) of the reported recoveries was 17% at a mean concentration (C) of about 10(-7) (0.1 mg/kg). The average apparent HORRAT value (RSD found/RSDR predicted from the Horwitz formula [2*C(-0.1505)]) was 0.8. Analysis of variance indicated that about 60-70% of the variance could not be associated with any particular factor or combination of factors-analyte, commodity, method, laboratory, concentration, database, or their interactions. The most predominant factor, analyte, and its third-order interaction with laboratory and concentration contributed most of the assignable variance. These findings suggested that most of the variability of trace analysis for pesticide residues is "random" in the sense of being inherent and not assignable to specific factor fluctuations.     

Metal labeling for accurate multiplexed peptide quantification via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Two peptide quantification strategies, the isobaric tags for relative or absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) labeling methodology and a metal-chelate labeling approach, were compared using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-TOF/TOF MS and MS/MS analysis. Amino- and cysteine-directed labeling using the rare earth metal chelator 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N′,N″,N″′-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) were applied for relative quantification of single peptides and a six-protein mixture. For analyte ratios close to one, iTRAQ and amino-directed DOTA labeling delivered overall comparable results regarding accuracy and reproducibility. In contrast, the MS-based quantification via amino-directed lanthanide-DOTA tags was more accurate for analyte ratios ≥5 and offered an extended dynamic range of three orders of magnitude. Our results show that the amino-directed DOTA labeling is an alternative relative quantification tool offering advantages like flexible multiplexing possibilities and, in particular, large dynamic ranges, which should be useful in sophisticated, targeted issues, where the accurate determination of extremely different protein or peptide concentration becomes relevant.     

Multiple-sprayer tandem mass spectrometry with parallel high flow extraction and parallel separation for high-throughput quantitation in biological fluids.

In this work, an on-line four-column high-flow parallel extraction device was set up and interfaced to a four-column parallel separation system with a four-sprayer tandem mass spectrometric detector. This system allowed for the direct and simultaneous sampling, extraction, separation, and detection of four samples in biological fluids, resulting in significantly increased throughput. The performance of this system was evaluated using rat plasma samples spiked with methotrexate as a test compound. The results showed that the relative standard deviation for responses across the four parallel channels was less than 10% for a concentration range from 10 to 2500 nM, resulting in comparable sensitivity (slope of curve) for the analyte on all channels. A ruggedness test was performed using a mixed set of new and used extraction columns and the relative standard deviation in analyte response was found to be below 15%. The inter-channel crosstalk was measured to be about 0.1%. A comparison between the data generated on this system and on a conventional system for a rat pharmacokinetic study showed no more than 20% difference in measured concentrations. This parallel system is a viable tool for high-throughput bioanalysis in a drug discovery environment.     

Factor transformation to produce statistics describing the uncertainty of analytical data.

Analytical uncertainty produced by random error has a positively skewed distribution and accuracy and precision have non-linear scales. Compared with conventional statistics, factor transformation of the data allows more appropriate interpretation of results and facilitates graphical inspection of data. Statistics are compared for practical examples of performance in proficiency tests and of repeatability and reproducibility in collaborative studies. Factor transformation is shown to be applicable to wide ranges of analyte concentration and measurement precision.     

电流信号突跃辅助下的时间比法提高毛细管电泳的再现性

提出了一种提高毛细管电泳再现性的新方法——电流信号突跃辅助下的时间比法（RM-ASCC）。将电泳过程中一般都要记录的吸收信号（光度检测器），与常常被忽略了的电流信号，同步传输给数据采集计算机。如果样品和背景电解质的电阻率不同，就会在电流图上出现一电流信号突跃。将各待测物的迁移时间除以这个电流突跃所对应的时间，就可求出相应的RM-ASCC值。     

Using calibration approaches to compensate for remaining matrix effects in quantitative liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization multistage mass spectrometric analysis of phytoestrogens in aqueous environmental samples

Signal suppression is a common problem in quantitative liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization multistage mass spectrometric (LC/ESI-MS(n)) analysis in environment samples, especially in highly loaded wastewater samples with highly complex matrix. Optimization of sample preparation and improvement of chromatographic separation are prerequisite to improve reproducibility and selectivity. Matrix components are reduced if not eliminated by optimization of sample preparation steps. However, extensive sample preparation may be time-consuming and risk the significant loss of some trace analytes. The best way to further compensate matrix effects is the use of an internal standard for each analyte. However, in a multi-component analysis, finding appropriate internal standards for every analyte is often difficult. In this present study, a more practical alternative option was sought. Matrix effects were assessed using the post-extraction addition method. By comparison of three different calibration approaches, it was found that matrix-matched calibration combined with one internal standard provides a satisfactory method for compensating for any residual matrix effects on all the analytes. Validating experiments on different sewage treatment plant (STP) influent samples analyzing for a range of phytoestrogens showed that this calibration method provided satisfactory results with concentration ratio 96.1-105.7% compared to those by standard addition.