October 2021

LCGC Europe spoke to Christine Fisher about the challenges and solutions associated with developing non-targeted food analysis methods, why data quality is so important, and how data processing software and algorithms are helping to tackle the current challenges in food analysis.

A method based on GC–MS coupled with magnetic SPE with multi-walled carbon-nanotube-coated Fe3O4 as adsorbent was developed for the analysis of four organophosphate esters (OPEs) in ambient water samples. The method was validated for its comparable sensitivity and potential application prospect.

Understanding when the effect is likely to be large enough to affect resolution is valuable for troubleshooting unexpected results that arise during both method development and the execution of established methods.

In this instalment of “Column Watch”, a simple method for profiling free naphthenic acids in produced water by GC–MS is proposed.

The “practical HPLC simulator” is a freeware program that uses actual separation data to demonstrate the chromatographic principles under isocratic or gradient conditions and the impacts of instrumental, column, and mobile phase parameters on method performance.