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Eingeladener Vortrag
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Certified reference materials (CRMs) are a versatile tool for quality assurance in the chemical laboratory. In the case of acrylamide analysis, the availability of appropriate materials was rather limited. This lack of acrylamide matrix CRMs has now been overcome by the development of two European reference materials (ERM) for the determination of acrylamide in food (crispbread, ERM-BD272, and rusk, ERM-BD274). This article describes the preparation of the materials, provides the results of the homogeneity and stability studies, and presents and discusses the outcome of the certification studies. Expert laboratories from different European countries took part in the certification studies using various analytical methods. The acrylamide mass fractions were certified to 980 µg kg-1 for crispbread and 74 µg kg-1 for rusk.
A practical method for the quantification of
total purgeable organic sulfur (POS) in highly contaminated
groundwater is described. Volatile organic sulfur
compounds (VOSC) are purged from the water samples by
a stream of oxygen and combusted. The emerging sulfur
dioxide is absorbed in H2O2 and converted to sulfate which
is quantified by ion chromatography and reported as mass
sulfur equivalent. The overall limit of quantification is
0.03 mg l1. The content of POS is balanced with the total
VOSC determined by GC-AED after liquidliquid extraction.
Separate determination of the non-volatile organic
sulfur compounds by direct combustion of the water sample
and adsorption to charcoal yielded a mass balance of
the total sulfur content. Semi-quantitative GC-MS after
purge & trap accumulation revealed that the VOSC mixture
is composed of C1C4 alkyl sulfides. The implementation
of the developed methodology for the quantification of
VOSC as potential catalyst poison in a cleaning plant
for groundwater contaminated with volatile haloorganics
(VOX) is presented.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) or sulfites are the most common preservatives used in winemaking. The level of total SO2 is subject to regulation. Currently, the regulatory determination of total SO2 (including sulfites) is done by the optimized Monier–Williams (OMW) method, which includes time-consuming distillation and titration steps. This paper describes the development and application of an alternative, rapid, straightforward, and reliable method for the determination of total sulfite in wine. In this method, a simple oxidation step using alkaline hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution is followed by ion chromatographic (IC) analysis of sulfate coupled with conductometric detection. Thirteen wines were analyzed in order to compare the in-sample oxidation method with the OMW-procedure. A t-test revealed satisfying compliance regarding sample preparation, i.e., alkaline H2O2 treatment and acidic distillation (OMW method). Comparable results were also obtained between IC analysis and acid/base titration. Our results indicate that the novel method (limit of quantification: 4 mg SO2 L-1) is well suited for the cost-efficient monitoring of regulatory limits.
Tenuazonic acid (TA) is a major Alternaria mycotoxin. In the present work a novel approach for the detection of TA in cereals by liquid chromatographyion-trap multistage mass spectrometry after derivatization with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine is described. The product of the derivatization reaction and its major MS2 fragments were characterised by Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance tandem mass spectrometry. Without preconcentration, the established method features a limit of detection of 10 µg/kg using 2 g of sample in a rapid workup procedure. Accuracy, precision and linearity were evaluated in the working range of 505000 µg/kg. TA was detected in 13 and quantified in 3 out of 27 cereal samples obtained from a local supermarket, the average content being 49 µg/kg (highest incidence: 851 ± 41 µg/kg).
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum. It has been found and analysed in several foods and feeds. Owing to its toxicity and occurrence in food and feed, the European Community has issued directives and some countries have their own regulations for OTA contents in food, feed and beverages. This work describes a method for the determination of OTA in mulled and red wine. It is based on combined anion exchange/reversed-phase clean-up and was analysed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (multiple reaction monitoring). The method was validated with natural contaminated and spiked wine samples with OTA contents from 1.34 to 3.48 g kg1. Owing to its accuracy, good reproducibility and repeatability, this easy method is a good alternative to liquid chromatographyfluorescence detection methods.
Mycotoxins are natural contaminants produced by a range of fungal species. Their common occurrence in food and feed poses a threat to the health of humans and animals. This threat is caused either by the direct contamination of agricultural commodities or by a "carry-over" of mycotoxins and their metabolites into animal tissues, milk, and eggs after feeding of contaminated hay or corn. As a consequence of their diverse chemical structures and varying physical properties, mycotoxins exhibit a wide range of biological effects. Individual mycotoxins can be genotoxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, and oestrogenic. To protect consumer health and to reduce economic losses, surveillance and control of mycotoxins in food and feed has become a major objective for producers, regulatory authorities and researchers worldwide. However, the variety of chemical structures makes it impossible to use one single technique for mycotoxin analysis. Hence, a vast number of analytical methods has been developed and validated. The heterogeneity of food matrices combined with the demand for a fast, simultaneous and accurate determination of multiple mycotoxins creates enormous challenges for routine analysis. The most crucial issues will be discussed in this review. These are (1) the collection of representative samples, (2) the performance of classical and emerging analytical methods based on chromatographic or immunochemical techniques, (3) the validation of official methods for enforcement, and (4) the limitations and future prospects of the current methods.
A combination of simultaneous milling and extraction known as micropulverized extraction was developed for the quantification of the alcohol marker ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair samples using a homogeneous reference material and a mixer mill. Best extraction results from 50 mg of hair were obtained with 2-mL plastic tubes containing two steel balls (Ø = 5 mm), 0.5 mL of water and with an oscillating frequency of 30 s-1 over a period of 30 min. EtG was quantified employing a validated GC-MS procedure involving derivatization with pentafluoropropionic acid anhydride. This micropulverization procedure was compared with dry milling followed by separate aqueous extraction and with aqueous extraction after manual cutting to millimeter-size snippets. Micropulverization yielded 28.0±1.70 pg/mg and was seen to be superior to manually cutting (23.0±0.83 pg/mg) and equivalent to dry grinding (27.7±1.71 pg/mg) with regard to completeness of EtG extraction. The option to process up to 20 samples simultaneously makes micropulverization especially valuable for the high throughput of urgent samples.
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.
The stability of the Alternaria mycotoxins alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, and altenuene upon bread baking was investigated by model experiments using a spiked wholemeal wheat flour matrix. For alternariol and alternariol monomethyl ether, but not for altenuene, degradation products, formed through a sequence of hydrolysis and decarboxylation, could be identified in pilot studies. The simultaneous quantification of alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, altenuene, and the degradation products was achieved by a newly developed high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) multimethod. The obtained quantitative data indicate that the Alternaria mycotoxins are barely degraded during wet baking, while significant degradation occurs upon dry baking, with the stability decreasing in the order alternariol monomethyl ether > alternariol > altenuene. The novel degradation products could be detected after the wet baking of flour spiked with alternariol and in a sample survey of 24 commercial cereal based baking products.
The degradation kinetics of the Alternaria mycotoxin tenuazonic acid (l-TA) in aqueous buffer were studied over a period of 4 months at different pH levels (3.5 and 7.0) and temperatures (4, 25 and 40°C). l-TA and its degradation products were quantified by newly developed high-performance liquid chromatography methods with UV or electrospray multistage mass spectrometry detection. At pH 3.5, significant degradation occurred at 25 and 40°C, the respective l-TA half-lives being 73.8±0.4 and 14.0±0.1 days. Two degradation processes, epimerization and hydrolysis, were evaluated kinetically. The hydrolytically formed iso-deacetyl TA (iso-DTA, epimeric mixture) was found to be the stable end product of l-TA degradation under the conditions of this study. This indicates that iso-DTA as well as the l-TA epimer u-TA are formed in aqueous beverage matrices.
The degradation and epimerization of ergot alkaloids (EAs) in rye flour were investigated after baking cookies and subsequently subjecting them to an in vitro digestion model. Different steps of digestion were analyzed using salivary, gastric, and duodenal juices. The degradation and bidirectional conversion of the toxicologically relevant (R)-epimers and the biologically inactive (S)-epimers for seven pairs of EAs were determined by a HPLC method coupled with fluorescence detection. Baking cookies resulted in degradation of EAs (2–30 %) and a shift in the epimeric ratio toward the (S)-epimer for all EAs. The applied digestion model led to a selective toxification of ergotamine and ergosine, two ergotamine-type EAs. The initial percentage of the toxic (R)-epimer in relation to the total toxin content was considerably increased after digestion of cookies. Ergotamine and ergosine increased from 32 to 51 % and 35 to 55 %, respectively. In contrast, EAs of the ergotoxine type (ergocornine, α- and β-ergocryptine, and ergocristine) showed an epimeric shift toward their biologically inactive (S)-epimers. Further experiments indicated that the selective epimerization of ergotamine EAs occurs in the duodenal juice only. These results demonstrate that toxification of EAs in the intestinal tract should be taken into consideration.
Deacetyl tenuazonic acid
(2009)
Als Folge der industriellen Produktion und der vielfältigen industriellen Nutzung von organischen Lösungsmitteln sind eine Vielzahl von Edukten, Zwischen- und Endprodukten in die Umwelt eingetragen worden und führen zu massiven Verunreinigungen des Bodens und des Grundwassers. Die Untersuchung und Sanierung des Grundwassers stellt einen aktuellen Schwerpunkt in der Altlastenbearbeitung dar. Vielfach werden klassische pump & treat-Verfahren zur Grundwassersanierung verwendet. Diese aktiven Sicherungs- und Sanierungsmaßnahmen werden jedoch unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Verhältnismäßigkeit häufig als ineffizient eingeschätzt. Als Alternative sollen die natürlichen Abbauprozesse im Grundwasserleiter genutzt oder gezielt verstärkt werden, um auf diesem Weg eine in-situ-Sanierung des Grundwasserleiters zu erreichen. In den letzten Jahren haben sich verschiedene Sanierungsverfahren etabliert, bei denen durch die Zugabe von Hilfsstoffen die mikrobiologische Aktivität des Aquifers erhöht wird bzw. Stoffe zugeführt werden, die mit den Schadstoffen reagieren (in-situ chemische Oxidation bzw. Reduktion, ISCO). An ausgewählten Standorten ist auch die aktive Sanierung (pump & treat, on-site- Sanierung) mit biologischem Schadstoffabbau (Bio-Filter) kombiniert worden. Um den Sanierungsverlauf zu verfolgen und zu optimieren, ist die Beprobung von Grundwasser aus dem Grundwasserleiter oder aus laufenden Anlagen erforderlich. In Fällen der gesteigerten mikrobiologischen Aktivität des Grundwassers treten gehäuft Probleme bei der Stabilisierung der Wasserproben auf. Die forcierten Abbauprozesse der Schadstoffe gehen nach der Probenahme in der Probenflasche weiter, bis die Energiebasis der Mikrobiologie aufgebraucht ist. Durch eine geringe Temperaturerhöhung beschleunigen sich diese Prozesse zusätzlich. In der Folge können die Schadstoffgehalte teilweise innerhalb weniger Stunden stark reduziert werden. Im Analysenlabor wird dann ein Schadstoffgehalt nachgewiesen, der nicht mehr die Verhältnisse im Aquifer bzw. im Ablauf der Reinigungsstufen widerspiegelt. Eine Einschätzung des Sanierungsfortschritts oder der Reinigungsleistung ist unter diesen Bedingungen stark fehlerbehaftet und kann zu groben Fehlinterpretationen führen. Grundwasserproben, die einem Aquifer mit hoher natürlicher oder initiierter mikrobiologischer Abbauaktivität entstammen, müssen daher zusätzlich stabilisiert werden, um den Ist-Zustand zum Zeitpunkt der Probenahme zu erfassen. Die Konservierung von Wasserproben bei der Probenahme von Grundwasser ist in der Normung umfangreich beschrieben: Die EN ISO 5667-3 von 2004 ist im Normausschuss (NA 119-01-03-01-01) überarbeitet und 2012 als Norm verabschiedet worden (EN ISO 5667-3, 03.12, deutsche Fassung DIN EN ISO 5667-3, 03-2013) [1], In Einzelfällen hat sie sich nicht als ausreichend erwiesen, um die Stabilität der organischen Schadstoffe in den oben beschriebenen Wasserproben zu gewährleisten.
The design and operation of an observational study on the profiles of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the breath of 37 lung cancer patients and 23 healthy controls of similar age is outlined. The necessity to quantify each VOC considered as potential disease marker on basis of individual calibration is elaborated and the quality control measures required to maintain reproducibility in breath sampling and subsequent instrumental trace VOC analysis using SPME-GC-MS over a study period of 14 months are described. 24 VOC were quantified on basis of their previously suggested potential as cancer markers. The breath concentration levels of aromatic compounds was expectedly increased in smokers while lung cancer patients displayed significantly increased levels of oxygenated VOC such as aldehydes, 2-butanone and 1-butanol. Though sets of selected oxygenated VOC displayed sensitivities and specificities between 80 and 90% using linear discriminant analysis with leave-one-out cross validation the effective selectivity of the breath VOC approach with regard to cancer detection is clearly limited. Results were discussed against the background of the literature on volatile cancer marker investigations and the prospects to link increased VOC levels in patients’ breath with approaches to employ sniffer dogs. Experiences from this study and the literature suggest that the current state of breath VOC based discrimination between cancer patients and healthy controls is hardly improvable. Observational studies tend to observe significant differences mostly in levels of certain oxygenated VOC but without resolution required for practical application. Any step towards practicable exploitation of VOC profile differences for illness detection would have to solve current restrictions set by the low and variable VOC concentrations. Further challenges are the technical complexity of studies involving breath sampling and possibly the limited capability of current analytical procedures to detect instable marker candidates.
Commercially available linear alkylbenzenesulfonates (LASs) are a mixture of various homologues and isomers, leading to 20 major species. In this work we investigated the commercial product by liquid chromatography-solid phase extraction-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy-mass spectrometry (LC-SPE-NMR/MS). The commercial product was separated into 17 fractions by liquid chromatography (LC). After chromatographic separation, 5% of the flow was split to a mass spectrometer (MS) while 95% was send to post-column solid phase extraction cartridges for enrichment of the analytes (LC-SPE). After elution from the SPE-cartridges a NMR-spectrometer equipped with a cryo-probe was used for the characterisation of the different LASs species. For the first time H-1-1D and H-H-COSY spectra for 14 LASs species out of 20 major isomers are presented, whereas the 6 remaining species are detected as mixtures in 3 H-1-1D and H-H-COSY spectra. These data were used to correlate the chromatographic retention of the LASs isomers to the substitution pattern of the alkyl chain.
The international research project HYCREF, funded by the European Commission in the 5 th Framework programme, aimed to develop methods to prepare homogenous and stable water-, soiland waste reference materials contaminated with mineral oil hydrocarbons and to test certify the mineral oil content by gas chromatographic methods. As mineral oil products are important sources for environmental contaminations a high need exists for certified reference materials for their determination using the new gas chromatographic methods (soil: ISO/FDIS 16703, waste: ENpr 14039, water: ISO 9377-2). The experimental conditions and results for preparation and characterisation of a total of nine reference materials (3 water-, 3 soil- and 3 waste materials) are described and discussed. Target values for the reference materials were defined at the beginning of the project in order to have clear quality criteria, which could be compared with the achieved results at the end of the project. These target specifications were related to the maximum uncertainty from test certification exercises (< 5 % for soil/waste and < 10 % for water), the maximum inhomogeneity between bottles (< 3 %) and minimum requirements for stability (> 5 years for soil/waste and > 2 years for water). The feasibility studies showed that solid materials (soil, waste) could be prepared sufficiently homogenous and stable. The test certified values of the 6 solid materials comprise a wide range of mineral oil content from about 200-9000 mg/kg with expanded uncertainties between 5.7-13.1 % using a coverage factor k (k = 2). The development of new water reference materials –the so-called “spiking pills” for an offshore- and a land-based discharge water represents one of the most innovative aspects of the project. The spiking pill technology facilitates the application and storage and improves the material stability compared with aqueous materials. Additional to the preparation and test certification of the reference materials investigations on the analytical method for the determination of mineral oil hydrocarbons were performed. The results obtained in relation to the optimisation of analytical method (extraction procedure, sample pretreatment, clean-up and measurement) were provided to the respective working group of ISO/TC 190, ISO/TC 147 and CEN/TC 292 and were incorporated into the ongoing standardisation procedures. The new version of ISO/FDIS 16703 (July 2004) includes the improvements based on HYCREF results, for example the increase of the solvent/sample ratio, the removal of acetone from the organic extracts and the use of column technique instead of batch technique for clean-up.
Mycotoxins are important non-anthropogenic food and feed contaminants, which can be present on almost every agricultural commodity. Effective consumer protection therefore essentially depends on food surveillance by reliable quantitative analysis enabled by appropriate quality control. Certified (matrix) reference materials (CRMs) are versatile tools to support Quality assurance. However, in the case of ochratoxin A (OTA), a hepato- and nephrotoxic mycotoxin, which is regulated in various foods, there is a lack of suitable CRMs. This lack has now been overcome by the development of two European Reference Materials (ERM®) for the Determination of OTA in roasted coffee (ERM®-BD475) and red wine (ERM®-BD476). This article discusses the material preparation process as well as the results of homogeneity and stability testing. Furthermore, the results of the inhouse certification studies carried out at BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing are presented and discussed. Interlaboratory comparison studies involving selected expert laboratories with documented Expertise in the field of mycotoxin analysis were conducted to confirm the certified values determined by BAM. The certified ochratoxin A values and their corresponding expanded uncertainties (k = 2) were assigned in full compliance with the requirements of ISO Guide 35 and are as follows:
(6.0 ± 0.6) µg kg-1 for roasted coffee, ERM®-BD475, and (0.52 ± 0.11) µg L-1 for red wine, ERM®-BD476.
1,2,5,6,9,10-hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), a widely used flame retardant, is an ubiquitous contaminant in
the environment. Still, only little is known about the distribution and behavior in the environment such as
bioaccumulation or biotransformation of HBCD stereoisomers. In order to investigate enrichment and possible
bioisomerization of HBCD stereoisomers, Mirror Carps were exposed to pure (+)- and (-)-γ-HBCD, randomly
sampled after a predefined specific period and subjected to enantiomer-specific determination of α-, β-, and γ-
HBCD. No evidence for the isomerization of HBCD stereoisomers was observed in Mirror Carp fillets.
Wie viele Forschergruppen, haben auch wir uns das langfristige Ziel gesetzt, einen Beitrag bei der Beantwortung der Frage zu leisten, was Hunde riechen, wenn sie Krebs erschnüffeln.
Dabei sollen die Hunde nicht nur anzeigen, ob eine Atemluftprobe positiv oder negativ ist, sondern sie sollen auch aktiv eingebunden werden in den systematischen Suchprozess nach detektierbaren Biomarkern. So ist geplant, dass mittels eines präparativen Fraktionssammlers definierte Schnitte des Gaschromatogramms einzeln oder in möglichen Kombinationen auf das Adsorbervlies gebracht werden, um im Hundetraining eingesetzt zu werden. In analoger Weise könnte auch mit spezifischen Kandidatensubstanzen verfahren werden.
Bilanzierung der Schwefelbelastung im Grundwasser an einem ausgewählten Industriestandort, Berlin
(2004)
Die Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) ist vom Senat für Stadtentwicklung, Berlin, und von der Bundesanstalt für vereinigungsbedingte Sonderaufgaben (BvS) beauftragt worden, die Bilanzierung der Schwefelkomponenten für ein bis drei ausgewählte Grundwasserproben an einem Berliner Industriestandort vorzunehmen. Es handelt sich bei den Boden- und Grundwasserkontaminationen ausnahmslos um industrielle Altlasten. Da der Gehalt an organisch gebundenen Schwefelverbindungen, kolloidalem Schwefel und gelösten Sulfiden für die Dimensionierung von Grundwasseraufbereitungsanlagen (Aktivkohle, Katalysator) von großer Bedeutung ist und am Standort teilweise sehr hohe Schwefelkontaminationen auftreten, sollen vor einem erneuten Ausschreibungsverfahren zur Grundwassersanierung an drei sehr unterschiedlichen, aber für den Standort typischen Grundwassermessstellen entsprechende Bilanzen für die Schwefelbelastung erstellt werden. Dabei sind sowohl die summarischen Kenngrößen wie Summe Gesamtschwefel, ausblasbare (POS) und extrahierbare leicht- und schwerflüchtige organische Schwefelverbindungen und an Aktivkohle adsorbierbare Schwefelverbindungen (AOS) von Interesse, als auch eine Zuordnung der Hauptkontaminationen über ein halbquantitatives GC-MS-Screening. Im Artikel werden die angewendeten Verfahren vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse werden diskutiert, gegenübergestellt und ihre Belastbarkeit eingeschätzt.
Bericht zur Durchführung des Ringversuchs zur Validierung der Benzolanalytik im Spurenbereich
(2006)
Im Auftrag des Altlastenausschusses (ALA) der Bund/Länder Arbeitsgemeinschaft Boden (LABO) wurde ein Validierungsringversuch für die Bestimmung von leichtflüchtigen monoaromatischen Verbindungen mit Hinweisen auf existierende Prüfwerte, wie BTEX in Boden, im Spurenbereich durchgeführt. 3 Bodenproben mit unterschiedlichen Kontaminationsniveaus der BTEX-Verbindungen, überschichtet mit Methanol, eine Bodenprobe dotiert mit Ottokraftstoff, Super bleifrei, eine BTEX-Standardlösung unbekannter Konzentration, sowie eine BTEX-Standardlösung mit zertifizierten Gehaltsangaben wurden an 21 ausgewählte Teilnehmer verschickt, die überwiegend mit GC-MS analysiert haben. Die Ergebnisse und die Verfahrenskenndaten zeigen, dass die Mehrzahl der Laboratorien mit den angewandten Analysentechniken in der Lage ist, in dem vorgegebenen Kontaminationsbereich empfindlich genug, vergleichbar und richtig messen zu können. GC- FID erweist sich nicht empfindlich und spezifisch genug in dem unteren Spurenbereich, deshalb war schon in dem Aufruf zum Ringversuch auf die Anwendung der GC-MS- Messtechnik verwiesen worden.
The contamination of infant food with substances from its packaging due to migration processes is still a problem. Most recently, great attention was paid to the migration of epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) and phthalates from twist-off closures into baby food packed in glass jars. Besides, packaging made of recycled fiber materials such as paper and paperboard were found to be the source of contaminants in dry and powdery foodstuffs such as sugar, rice, and maize flour. In this study 20 infant food samples packed in recycled paperboard containers were tested for phthalates and diisopropyl naphthalenes (DIPN), known incorporated substances in recycled paper. Furthermore, the barrier function of different secondary packaging materials (paper and aluminum-coated foil) was investigated. The highest contents of phthalates (mainly diisobutyl phthalate, DiBP) and DIPN in infant food samples were found for those foods packed in inner bags made of paper. Migration experiments were performed under authentic conditions to evaluate possible transfer mechanism (gas phase, direct contact) of phthalate esters into foodstuff. It is shown that paper does not provide an appropriate barrier against migration of semipolar compounds such as phthalates. The air space itself otherwise effectively prevents migration of the less volatile phthalates under the applied conditions.
Alternariol
(2010)
In the title compound (systematic name: 3,7,9-trihydroxy-1-methyl-6H-benzo[c]chromen-6-one), C14H10O5, the methyl group is shifted out of the molecular plane due to a steric collision, thus causing a slight twist of the benzene rings. The molecular structure is stabilized by an intramolecular O-H...O hydrogen bond, generating an S(6) ring. In the crystal, molecules are connected by intermolecular O-H...O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network.
A Proof of Concept: Are Detection Dogs a Useful Tool to Verify Potential Biomarkers for Lung Cancer?
(2018)
Early and reliable diagnostic test is essential for effective therapy of lung cancer. Volatile organic compounds that are characteristic for cancer could serve as valuable biomarkers in cancer diagnosis. Both trace analytical and detection dog approaches give some evidence for the existence of such biomarkers. In this proof of concept, study dogs and trace analysis were implemented in combination to gain more information concerning cancer biomarkers. Two dogs were trained to distinguish between absorbed breath samples of lung cancer patients and healthy persons and succeeded with correct identification of patients with 9/9 and 8/9 and correct negative indications from of 8/10 and 4/10 samples from healthy individuals. A recent observational study found that breath samples from lung cancer patients showed an increase in 1-butanol, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, and hexanal. Synthetic air samples were therefore fortified with these compounds and adsorbed to a fleece. Tested against breath samples from healthy probands, on presentation to the dogs these synthetic samples provoked an indication in three out of four samples. We were able to demonstrate that a combination of the natural nose of a dog and a trace analytic technique can be a valuable concept in the search for cancer biomarkers.
Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometric detection has gained more importance for mycotoxin determination in recent years. In addition to instrumental improvements, the development of LC-MS-MS has also been a consequence of the availability of stable isotope internal standards, e.g., 13C-labelled mycotoxins. Thus, the LC-ESI-MS-MS method using a 13C15-deoxynivalenol internal standard as a state-of-the-art technique was selected as a reference procedure for an in-house method comparison study of the determination of deoxynivalenol (DON) in wheat materials. Alternative methods include LC-diode array detection, which is a frequently used routine procedure for DON-analysis, and gas chromatography after trimethylsilylation. For GC application, an electron capture detector and a negative chemical ionisation mass spectrometry detector were used, which have both been well described in the literature. The method comparison was conducted using t test statistics. Additionally, this study also calculates important method performance characteristics, including accuracy, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, recovery, and variation coefficient. Furthermore, this is the first report of a GC-MS method for the determination of DON using a fully carbon-labelled 13C15-DON as an IS. The GC-MS using 13C15-DON as an IS has produced comparable results to the 13C-IS-LC-MS-MS reference method with a similar sensitivity. ECD detection was slightly less sensitive, but is also suited for DON analysis in wheat. Due to the high LOQ, the LC-DAD method seems highly applicable to the measurement of highly contaminated samples.
The title compound (AHTN-OH), C17H26O, was prepared in order to provide standard materials for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of environmental pollutants. The molecule possesses a chiral C atom, although the structure determination was performed on racemic material, expressed in the structure as disordered chiral sites. The asymmetric unit consists of four AHTN-OH molecules containing an hydroxy group and forming a tetrameric cyclic motif built up by four strong hydrogen bonds between these hydroxy groups and additionally by two weak C–H···π interactions. Furthermore, these tetramers are linked via very weak C–H···π interactions, forming chains along the c axis.