Extraction and clean‐up of contaminants and toxicants from food for mass spectrometric analysis—a literature review

Abstract

This report presents a review of the literature on the extraction and clean-up procedures used prior to the analysis, by mass spectrometry, of organic contaminants and toxicants in foods and food-related materials. It includes a brief description of the uses of a mass spectrometer and shows how the mode of operation of the machine can influence the amount of clean-up necessary before a sample is presented for analysis. The review covers a variety of contaminants of different compound types in a wide range of foods and not only discusses sample preparation techniques that have been used for contaminant analysis by mass spectrometry but also considers some that could be used. The most commonly used techniques involve solvent extraction followed by a clean-up using liquid-liquid partition or column chromatography or both, although a number of newer methods being evolved are moving towards the ideal of a single-step extraction and clean-up process.

Integrative approaches for assessing the ecological sustainability ofin situbioremediation

“…It is equally important to mention that the analytical ability to evaluate the kinetic efficiency of pollutant removal during in situ bioremediation has also been aided considerably by the advancement of different pollutant extraction processes. The majority of the methods for pollutant extraction from environmental samples are based on the chemical characteristics of the target pollutant(s) and have been classified as ‘exhaustive’ and ‘nonexhaustive’ extraction methods (Shacter, 1984; Reid, 1986; Zambonin, 2003). On the basis of the chemical nature of the extraction treatment, they may also be classified as: (1) organic solvent extraction; (2) chemical oxidation extraction; (3) supercritical fluid extraction; and (4) aqueous sample extraction.…”

“…Majority of the methods for pollutant extraction from environmental samples are based on the chemical characteristics of the target pollutant(s) and have been classified as 'exhaustive' and 'nonexhaustive' extraction methods (Shacter, 1984;Reid, 1986;Zambonin, 2003). On the basis of the chemical nature of the extraction treatment, they may also be classified as: (1) organic solvent extraction; (2) chemical oxidation extraction; (3) supercritical fluid extraction and (4) aqueous sample extraction.…”