Determination and Bio-Implications of Organic Pollutants in Food and Environmental Samples Based on Hyphenated Techniques

A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Chromatographic Separations".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 7217

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Umbria e delle Marche, Perugia, Italy
Interests: analytical chemistry; food; residue

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Guest Editor
Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health DVM, 00161 Roma, Italy
Interests: food; toxicology; analytical chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The continuous evolution of hyphenated techniques has increasingly allowed for the detection and identification of organic compounds in complex matrices at very low concentrations with high confidence levels. Thanks to the introduction of high-resolution mass spectrometry, untargeted approaches combined with powerful data processing and interpretation software have allowed for the identification of unexpected and unknown substances that are increasingly detected in environmental and biota samples.   In the recent decade, many compounds have been classified as organic pollutants of priority relevance due to their persistence, toxicity, mobility and bioaccumulation features.   Therefore, their monitoring in the environment, biota, and human beings, as supported by hyphenated techniques, represents an important issue within the UN Sustainable Development Goals and promotes the transition towards innovative safe and sustainable-by-design alternatives.   Moreover, their analysis is a challenge for scholars in the field and have attracted the attention of the community due to their implications in both the ecosystem and human health. 
In this context, we chose the following title: "Determination and Bio-Implications of Organic Pollutants in Food and Environmental Samples Based on Hyphenated Techniques” for this Special Issue of Separations. 
 
This Special Issue is open to different fields of research including metabolic studies, untargeted determination approaches, novel analytical strategies, degradations or transformations of (P)OPs, and other related studies.

Dr. Simone Moretti
Dr. Gianfranco Brambilla
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • environmental
  • food
  • untargeted approach
  • emerging (P)OPs
  • analytical strategy
  • degradation/transformation
  • metabolism and bio-marker
  • toxicology

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3895 KiB  
Article
Metabolic Stability of Eight Airborne OrganoPhosphate Flame Retardants (OPFRs) in Human Liver, Skin Microsomes and Human Hepatocytes
by Stefano Di Bona, Emanuele Artino, Francesca Buiarelli, Patrizia Di Filippo, Roberta Galarini, Stefano Lorenzetti, Franco Lucarelli, Gabriele Cruciani and Laura Goracci
Separations 2023, 10(11), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10110548 - 25 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1328
Abstract
The waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is generally considered a secondary raw material for the recovery of valuable components. However, emerging issues regarding the impact of suspended particles arising from WEEE recycling operations are a concern. It was recently demonstrated that [...] Read more.
The waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is generally considered a secondary raw material for the recovery of valuable components. However, emerging issues regarding the impact of suspended particles arising from WEEE recycling operations are a concern. It was recently demonstrated that samples from three different WEEE plants were rich in organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs). Since exposure to a xenobiotic can lead to its biotransformation through human metabolism routes, in the present study, the metabolism of eight OPFRs of interest in our sampling campaign (triphenyl phosphate (TPhP), tri-m-tolyl phosphate (TMTP), ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPhP), tributoxyethyl phosphate (TBOEP), diphenyl phosphate (DPhP), trichloroethyl phosphate (TCEP), tris(1,3-dichloropropan-2-yl) phosphate (TDClPP) and bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate) (BDP)) was investigated. Their metabolism was studied at different time points in three matrices: human liver microsomes, human hepatocytes and human skin microsomes. This study, which was run using a common experimental setting, allowed easy comparison of results for each OPFR of interest, and a comparison with other data in the literature was performed. In particular, a number of metabolites not previously described were detected, and for the first time, it was shown that TPhP could be metabolized in human skin microsomes. Full article
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14 pages, 1061 KiB  
Article
Untargeted Screening of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Airborne Particulate of Three Italian E-Waste Recycling Facilities
by Carolina Barola, Elisabetta Bucaletti, Simone Moretti, Francesca Buiarelli, Giulia Simonetti, Franco Lucarelli, Laura Goracci, Stefano Lorenzetti, Patrizia Di Filippo, Donatella Pomata, Carmela Riccardi and Roberta Galarini
Separations 2023, 10(11), 547; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10110547 - 25 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1973
Abstract
Poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are widely used in the electrical and electronic appliance industry to the point that waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), also known as e-waste, creates significant potential for PFAS exposure (by inhalation, ingestion, or dermal exposure) [...] Read more.
Poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are widely used in the electrical and electronic appliance industry to the point that waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), also known as e-waste, creates significant potential for PFAS exposure (by inhalation, ingestion, or dermal exposure) for people handling and recycling e-waste. The aim of this work was the development of an untargeted analytical approach in order to detect the presence of possible unknown PFASs in particulate matter collected in three Italian e-waste facilities through liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS/MS) in negative ionization mode. By means of three acquisition experiments, nine compounds were detected as candidate PFASs, and three were definitively confirmed by comparison with their authentic standards. Among these, bistriflimide (bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide), an ionic liquid with several promising technological applications, was the most abundant compound detected in all three recycling plants. This is the first study associating the presence of fluorinated ionic liquids with e-waste, and as these chemicals are not only toxic and persistent but also highly mobile, our results indicate the need to include them in future PFAS research. Only further data on their actual environmental diffusion will determine whether they are emerging pollutants or not. Full article
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15 pages, 334 KiB  
Article
UHPLC-ToF-MS as a High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Tool for Veterinary Drug Quantification in Milk
by Marta Leite, Ana Rita Marques, Ana Sofia Vila Pouca, Silvia Cruz Barros, Jorge Barbosa, Fernando Ramos, Isabel Maria Afonso and Andreia Freitas
Separations 2023, 10(8), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10080457 - 21 Aug 2023
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Abstract
Milk is one of the most widely consumed foods in the world, despite the increasing consumption of plant-based alternatives. Although rich in nutrients and believed by consumers to be free of undesirable contaminants, milk, whether of animal or plant origin, is not always [...] Read more.
Milk is one of the most widely consumed foods in the world, despite the increasing consumption of plant-based alternatives. Although rich in nutrients and believed by consumers to be free of undesirable contaminants, milk, whether of animal or plant origin, is not always free from residues of chemical substances, including veterinary medicines. For instance, in intensive livestock production, antibiotics are often used to treat animals or, illicitly, to improve their growth performance, which can lead to their presence in the final food. Additionally, the continuous use of veterinary drugs in intensive animal production can lead to their occurrence in agricultural soils and therefore are absorbed by plants as another source of entering the food chain. An effective and accurate multi-detection quantitative screening method to analyze 89 antibiotics in milk was optimized by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a time-of-flight detector (UHPLC-ToF-MS) and further validated in accordance with the Commission Implementing Regulation (CIR) 808/2021 and the International Council for Harmonization (ICH) guidelines on the validation of analytical procedures. Apart from the specific parameters required by CIR 808/2021, the aim was to access the lower limits of the method, limits of detection (LoD) and quantification (LoQ), regardless of the maximum residue limits (MRLs) defined in the legislation. The method was then applied in the analysis of 32 supermarket samples, resulting in four positive findings, including one plant-based sample. The antibiotics found were from the macrolides and sulphonamides families. Nevertheless, the concentrations detected were below the established maximum residue level (MRL). Full article
15 pages, 1348 KiB  
Article
Improved Method for the Detection of Highly Polar Pesticides and Their Main Metabolites in Foods of Animal Origin: Method Validation and Application to Monitoring Programme
by Emanuela Verdini, Veronica Maria Teresa Lattanzio, Biancamaria Ciasca, Laura Fioroni and Ivan Pecorelli
Separations 2023, 10(1), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10010044 - 10 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2244
Abstract
The application of polar pesticides in agricultural production has been of great interest due to their low costs and their high effectiveness. For this reason, the possibility of their transfer to foods of animal origin is of great concern for human health. The [...] Read more.
The application of polar pesticides in agricultural production has been of great interest due to their low costs and their high effectiveness. For this reason, the possibility of their transfer to foods of animal origin is of great concern for human health. The manuscript describes the implementation and validation of an analytical method to detect polar pesticides, at regulatory levels, in three foods of animal origin, including bovine fat, chicken eggs, and cow milk. The method was fully validated to detect glyphosate, glufosinate, and their respective metabolites in the above-mentioned foods obtaining fit-for-purpose sensitivity, recoveries (76–119%), repeatability (≤20%), within-laboratory reproducibility (≤20%), and experimental measurement uncertainty less than 50% as required by the SANTE/11312/2021 criteria. Given the satisfactory results, the applicability of the method to additional molecules belonging to the same category (AMPA, cyanuric acid, ethephon, fosetyl aluminum, HEPA, maleic hydrazide, and N-acetyl-glyphosate) was also evaluated in order to meet possible future requests. Finally, the implemented method was applied to analyse samples over the period of March 2021 to August 2022 from two Italian regions (Umbria and Marche) within the national monitoring programme. In agreement with previously available data, none of the samples analysed showed the presence of glyphosate and glufosinate at levels above the legal limit. Full article
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