Laboratory of Chemical Analysis (LCA)

The Laboratory of Chemical Analysis (LCA) has over 40 years of experience in the analysis of residues and contaminants in matrices of animal origin. During the last decade, this general sphere of activity has been expanded to emerging micropollutants (contaminants of emerging concern, CECs) and bioactive food constituents, situated within the farm-to-fork approach, which is specifically directed towards food safety and quality in the European Union. In addition, various new and divergent biological matrices have been embedded into the expertise of the LCA. Hereby, the developed analytical strategies are typically multi-compound approaches that aim at the detection and measurement of a wide range of analytes (including but not limited to pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, steroids, phathaltes, phenols, etc.). In light of their low concentration levels (ppt of ppb) and the complexity of the analyzed biological specimens, high-end analytical apparatus are required. In this context, LCA has one HPLC-MSn and one UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS at its disposition, which enables the identification and accurate quantification of compounds in complex food matrices.

Since 2010, a new analytical path was entered, thereby exploiting the possibilities of high-resolution mass spectrometry based (untargeted) metabolomics, enclosing multi-component screening and enabling for instance biomarker studies, which are specifically designed to serve multiple applications with a particular focus on exposome research and its link to non-communicable diseases. To this end, two UHPLC-Orbitrap-HRMS, one UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS and two REIMS systems are currently available at the LCA. It should hereby be noted that the LCA has established an in-depth expertise towards validation of HRMS methods, processing and statistical analysis of multivariate MS-data, biological interpretation of obtained outcomes, and biomarker validation.