TY - JOUR A1 - Ammann, Dominic A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Kohl, Anka A1 - Hänisch, Jessica A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Degradation of the ethyl glucuronide content in hair by hydrogen peroxide and a non-destructive assay for oxidative hair treatment using infra-red spectroscopy N2 - The assessment of quantification results of the alcohol abuse marker ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair in comparison to the cut-off values for the drinking behavior may be complicated by cosmetic hair bleaching. Thus, the impact of increasing exposure to hydrogen peroxide on the EtG content of hair was investigated. Simultaneously, the change of absorbance in the range of 1000–1100 cm-1 indicative for the oxidation of cystine was investigated non-destructively by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) using pulverized portions of the respective hair samples. Hair samples treated with hydrogen peroxide consistently displayed a significantly increased absorbance at 1040 cm-1 associated with the formation of cysteic acid. The EtG content decreased significantly if the hair was treated with alkaline hydrogen peroxide as during cosmetic bleaching. It could be shown that ATR-FTIR is capable of detecting an exposure to hydrogen peroxide when still no brightening was visible and already before the EtG content deteriorated significantly. Thus, hair samples suspected of having been exposed to oxidative treatment may be checked non-destructively by a readily available technique. This assay is also possible retrospectively after EtG extraction and using archived samples. KW - Hair testing KW - Oxidation KW - Bleaching KW - Cysteic acid KW - HPLC–MS/MS PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.07.029 SN - 0379-0738 SN - 1872-6283 VL - 244 SP - 30 EP - 35 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam [u.a.] AN - OPUS4-31755 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ammann, Dominic A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Nehls, Irene T1 - Stability of ethyl glucuronide in hair reference materials after accelerated aging N2 - Two different hair reference materials, one produced from authentic hair displaying an ethyl glucuronide (EtG) content of about 25 pg/mg and one obtained by fortification of blank hair to an EtG level of 85 pg/mg were submitted to accelerated aging between 4 degrees C and 60 degrees C for periods between one and 24 months. Subsequently, the EtG content was determined in the aged samples and untreated reference samples stored at -22 degrees C under repeatability conditions following the so-called isochronous approach. The EtG content remained stable even at 40 degrees C for 24 months and at 60 degrees C over six months. This is in contrast to many organic analytes contained in trace concentrations in diverse matrices. A slight but significant increase of the recovered EtG in case of authentic hair samples having been exposed for 24 months between 4 degrees C and 60 degrees C may be due to a temperature-driven process that allows increased recoveries of the physiologically embedded EtG. KW - Alcohol marker KW - Micropulverization KW - HPLC-MS/MS KW - Fortification KW - Long term stability PY - 2015 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2015.09.015 SN - 0379-0738 SN - 1872-6283 VL - 257 SP - 337 EP - 340 PB - Elsevier Ireland Ldt. CY - Amsterdam [u.a.] AN - OPUS4-34940 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bachmann, H. J. A1 - Bucheli, T. D. A1 - Dieguez-Alonso, A. A1 - Fabbri, D. A1 - Knicker, H. A1 - Schmidt, H.-P. A1 - Ulbricht, A. A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Buscaroli, A. A1 - Buerge, D. A1 - Cross, A. A1 - Dickinson, D. A1 - Enders, A. A1 - Esteves, V.I. A1 - Evangelou, M. W. H. A1 - Fellet, G. A1 - Friedrich, K. A1 - Gasco Guerrero, G. A1 - Glaser, B. A1 - Hanke, U. M. A1 - Hanley, K. A1 - Hilber, I. A1 - Kalderis, D. A1 - Leifeld, J. A1 - Masek, O. A1 - Mumme, J. A1 - Paneque Carmona, M. A1 - Calvelo Pereira, R. A1 - Rees, F. A1 - Rombola, A. G. A1 - de la Rosa, J. M. A1 - Sakrabani, R. A1 - Sohi, S. A1 - Soja, G. A1 - Valagussa, M. A1 - Verheijen, F. A1 - Zehetner, F. T1 - Towards the standardization of biochar analysis: the COST action TD1107 interlaboratory comparison N2 - Biochar produced by pyrolysis of organic residues is increasingly used for soil amendment and many other applications. However, analytical methods for its physical and chemical characterization are yet far from being specifically adapted, optimized, and standardized. Therefore, COST Action TD1107 conducted an interlaboratory comparison in which 22 laboratories from 12 countries analyzed three different types of biochar for 38 physical–chemical parameters (macro- and microelements, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pH, electrical conductivity, and specific surface area) with their preferential methods. The data were evaluated in detail using professional interlaboratory testing software. Whereas intralaboratory repeatability was generally good or at least acceptable, interlaboratory reproducibility was mostly not (20% < mean reproducibility standard deviation < 460%). This paper contributes to better comparability of biochar data published already and provides recommendations to improve and harmonize specific methods for biochar analysis in the future. KW - Biochar KW - Analysis KW - Standardization KW - Ring test KW - Interlaboratory comparison PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.5b05055 SN - 0021-8561 SN - 1520-5118 VL - 64 IS - 2 SP - 513 EP - 527 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Columbus, Ohio AN - OPUS4-35289 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Roland T1 - Non-invasive cancer detection using volatile biomarkers: Is urine superior to breath? N2 - In recent years numerous reports have highlighted the options of chemical breath analysis with regard to noninvasive cancer detection. Certain volatile organic compounds (VOC) supposedly present in higher amounts or in characteristic patterns have been suggested as potential biomarkers. However, so far no clinical application based on a specific set of compounds appears to exist. Numerous reports on the capability of sniffer dogs and sensor arrays or electronic noses to distinguish breath of cancer patients and healthy controls supports the concept of genuine cancer-related volatile profiles. However, the actual compounds responsible for the scent are completely unknown and there is no correlation with the potential biomarkers suggested on basis of chemical trace analysis. It is outlined that specific features connected with the VOC analysis in breath – namely small concentrations of volatiles, interfering background concentrations, considerable sampling effort and sample instability, impracticability regarding routine application - stand in the way of substantial progress. The underlying chemicalanalytical challenge can only be met considering the severe susceptibility of VOC determination to these adverse conditions. Therefore, the attention is drawn to the needs for appropriate quality assurance/quality control as the most important feature for the reliable quantification of volatiles present in trace concentration. Consequently, the advantages of urine as an alternative matrix for volatile biomarker search in the context of diagnosing lung and other cancers are outlined with specific focus on quality assurance and practicability in clinical chemistry. The headspace over urine samples as the VOC source allows adapting gas chromatographical procedures well-established in water analysis. Foremost, the selection of urine over breath as non-invasive matrix should provide considerably more resilience to adverse effects during sampling and analysis. The most important advantage of urine over breath is seen in the option to partition, dispense, mix, spike, store, and thus to dispatch taylor-made urine samples on demand for quality control measures. Although it is still open at this point if cancer diagnosis supported by non-invasively sampled VOC profiles will ultimately reach clinical application the advantages of urine over breath should significantly facilitate urgently required steps beyond the current proof-of-concept stage and towards standardisation. KW - VOC KW - Breath KW - Urine KW - Lung cancer KW - Volatile organic compounds PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110060 VL - 143 SP - 110060 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-51066 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Becker, Roland T1 - Proficiency testing of field laboratories - Experience from the soil sector T2 - Workshop on Laboratory Proficiency Testing (Umweltbundesamt) CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 2004-10-07 PY - 2004 AN - OPUS4-5465 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Becker, Roland T1 - Zinc-dithialkyldithiophosphates in engine oils - Determination of Conent, Composition and Degradation during Operation using Gas and Liquid Chromatography T2 - 11th International Colloquium Tribology, Industrial and Automotive Lubrication CY - Esslingen am Neckar, Germany DA - 1998-01-13 PY - 1998 AN - OPUS4-5683 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Becker, Roland T1 - Interlaboratory comparisons - Estimating degree of equivalence T2 - 3rd Central European Conference for Reference Materials and Measurements CY - Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia DA - 2002-09-23 PY - 2002 AN - OPUS4-5832 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Becker, Roland T1 - Soil proficiency testing at BAM T2 - Seminario Sectorial Ambiente 2002, Centro National de Metrologia (CENAM) CY - Querétaro, Mexico DA - 2002-09-13 PY - 2002 AN - OPUS4-5833 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Becker, Roland T1 - International co-operation in the development and application of matrix reference materials T2 - Case study: PAH and TPH in soil; BERM-9 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 2003-06-17 PY - 2003 AN - OPUS4-5858 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Becker, Roland T1 - Pentachlorophenol (PCP) in soil - certified reference materials "BAM-U008" and "BAM-U009" for environmental analysis T2 - BERM 9 - 9th International Symposium on Biological and Environmental Reference Materials CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 2003-06-15 PY - 2003 AN - OPUS4-5859 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -