Best of the Week: Earth Day Highlights Advances and Sustainability Challenges in Chromatography Research

ChromatographyOnline.com presented a wide variety of content related to Wednesday’s celebration of Earth Day, from looking back at past environment-related editorial to interviews with researchers working on the cutting edge of the science.

In addition, recent posts on the page highlight key challenges and advances in chromatography, including balancing sustainability with analytical performance, leveraging two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC×GC–MS) to better resolve complex recycled materials, and managing increasing data complexity in non-targeted high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) workflows enhanced by ion mobility.

This is the Best of the Week.

Earth Day 2026: From the Lab to the Environment

As we celebrate Earth Day 2026, LCGC revisited the archives and looked back at the content that remains as relevant as ever.¹

Fluorophilic Interactions in Gas Chromatography: Advancing Ionic Liquid Stationary Phases for the Analysis of Persistent PFAS Pollutants

Ryoo Donghyun,SeongSoo Lee,Emanuela Gionfriddo, andJared Andersonanswer questions concerning their research on PFAS—highly stable “forever chemicals” used widely in industry—which are a growing pollution threat because they persist, accumulate in the environment and human bodies, and are difficult to detect. However, new gas chromatography (GC) methods with specialized fluorinated stationary phases show promise for better tracking these hazardous contaminants.²

Assessing Marine Pollution and Ecosystem Impacts Through LC-HR-MS/MS Analysis of Anthropogenic Compounds in Oceanic Dissolved Organic Matter

How are rapid population growth, urbanization, and industrial activity driving a surge of chemical pollution in oceans, threatening ecosystems and highlighting the urgent need for large-scale monitoring and mitigation? LCGC International spoke withDaniel PetrasandJarmo-Charles Kalinskiabout using advanced chromatographic techniques to find out how much human-made chemical pollution is mixed into the ocean’s natural dissolved organic matter.³

Enhancing Analytical Methods for Detecting Organofluorines and PFAS in Municipal Wastewater

Leo Yeung, Pontus Larsson,and Anna Kärrman of Örebro University’s MTM Research Centre discussed their development of a multisorbent extraction workflow combined with advanced chromatography techniques that improved fluorine mass balance analysis in wastewater. Their research has uncovered a wider range of PFAS and significant unidentified organofluorine pollution while exposing the limits of conventional targeted methods.⁴

Green Chromatography: Must Analysts Sacrifice Performance for Sustainability?

Sébastien Rolle discusses the trade-offs between greener instrument design and analytical performance, addressing sensitivity, throughput, and method robustness for laboratory scientists.⁵

Extech 2026 Preview: The Benefits of GC×GC–MS to Analyze Recycled Polyolefines in Food Contact Material Applications

Andrea Hochegger from Graz University of Technology, Austria describes the benefits that comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC×GC–MS) offers over conventional GC–MS to resolve complex mixtures from recycled packaging materials. Andrea will present on this topic at Extech 2026, which will take place at the University of Liege, Gembloux, Belgium from July 6–9, 2026.⁶

Managing Data Complexity in Non-Targeted Workflows

Gauthier Eppe discusses the vast data complexity that arises when ion mobility is layered on top of HRMS in non-targeted contaminant screening workflows.⁷

References

1. LCGC Staff.Earth Day 2026: From the Lab to the Environment. Chromatography Online website https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/earth-day-2026-from-the-lab-to-the-environment (accessed 2026-04-24)

2. Ryoo, D.; Lee, S. S.; Anderson, J. L. et al. Fluorophilic Interactions in Gas Chromatography: Advancing Ionic Liquid Stationary Phases for the Analysis of Persistent PFAS Pollutants. Chromatography Online website https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/fluorophilic-interactions-in-gas-chromatography-advancing-ionic-liquid-stationary-phases-for-the-analysis-of-persistent-pfas-pollutants (accessed 2026-04-24)

3. Petras, D.; Kalinski, J.; Chasse, J. Assessing Marine Pollution and Ecosystem Impacts Through LC-HR-MS/MS Analysis of Anthropogenic Compounds in Oceanic Dissolved Organic Matter. Chromatography Online website. https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/assessing-marine-pollution-and-ecosystem-impacts-through-lc-hr-ms-ms-analysis-of-anthropogenic-compounds-in-oceanic-dissolved-organic-matter (accessed 2026-04-24)

4. Yeung, L. W. Y.; Larrson, P.; Kärrman, A. et al. Enhancing Analytical Methods for Detecting Organofluorines and PFAS in Municipal Wastewater. Chromatography Online website. https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/chemometrics-and-generative-ai-new-possibilities-for-analysis-today (accessed 2026-04-24)

5. Rolle, S.; Jones, K.Green Chromatography: Must Analysts Sacrifice Performance for Sustainability? Chromatography Online website. https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/green-chromatography-must-analysts-sacrifice-performance-for-sustainability- (accessed 2026-04-24)

6. Hochegger, A.; Matheson, A. Extech 2026 Preview: The Benefits of GC×GC–MS to Analyze Recycled Polyolefines in Food Contact Material Applications.
Chromatography Online website. https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/extech-2026-preview-the-benefits-of-gc-gc-ms-to-resolve-complex-mixtures-from-recycled-packaging-materials- (accessed 2026-04-24)

7. Eppe, G.; Jones, K. Managing Data Complexity in Non-Targeted Workflows. Chromatography Online website. https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/managing-data-complexity-in-non-targeted-workflows (accessed 2026-04-24)