This week, LCGC International published a variety of articles on trending topics in separation science. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular articles that were published this week in no particular order.
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Will Wetzel
Oceanography encompasses a wide range of disciplines to understand the physical, chemical, biological, and geological processes that govern marine environments. This field explores everything from the dynamics of ocean currents, waves, and tides to the intricate ecosystems thriving in the depths of the sea. Currently, scientists are concerned with the presence of the waste from dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), an insecticide, deposits on the ocean floor, and how this will impact marine habitats. Chris Reddy, a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is helping DDT monitoring efforts. In this first part of three, we discuss Reddy’s work and his team’s being featured in “Out of Plain Sight,” a documentary exploring how half a million barrels of DDT came to reside at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and current conservation efforts to reverse the deleterious effects DDT is having on the marine ecosystem.
Measuring Vitamin D3 in Hen's Egg Yolk with HPLC
John Chasse
Vitamin D is primarily recognized for its role in maintaining calcium and phosphorus homeostasis. However, it is also connected to other health benefits such as preventing cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes. While vitamin D can be synthesized internally, dietary intake is critical to sustain suitable levels, thus highlighting its important role in human physiology. Vitamin D occurs in two principal forms in nature—ergocalciferol (commonly referred to as vitamin D2, which comes from plant-sourced foods) and cholecalciferol (commonly referred to as vitamin D3, which comes from animal-sourced foods). A team of researchers from the University of Perugia and the University of Bologna, both in Italy, developed a high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) method for the quantitative analysis of vitamin D3 in egg yolk samples, even with the presence of vitamin D2 derived from the animal's diet.
PFAS Identified in Smartwatch and Fitness Bands Using LC–MS/MS
Kate Jones
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of human-made chemicals that are ubiquitous in nature. They do not easily break down in the environment, which means they accumulate in soil, water, and living organisms. A study recently published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters has found significant concentrations of perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) in fluoroelastomer watch bands, raising concerns about potential health risks associated with wearable devices. Led by a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame, the study examined 22 watch bands using particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) to detect the presence of PFAS.
Waters Introduces New Columns at WCBP 2025
Aaron Acevedo
In a January 27 press release, Waters Corporation announced its expansion of its MaxPeak Premier Reversed-Phase Column portfolio with MaxPeak Premier OBD Preparative Columns. The new columns were introduced at the 29th Symposium on the Interface of Regulatory and Analytical Sciences for Biotechnology Health Products (WCBP 2025) in Washington, DC. Taking place at the Mayflower Hotel from January 28–30, the conference mainly focuses on current and emerging chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) analytical technology within evolving domestic and international regulatory perspectives.
Selecting Optimal Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography Columns
Aaron Acevedo
Two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) is a process that uses two chromatographic columns with different stationary phases to diversify solute interactions with a resin; this allows for a second “dimension” to enable solute-specific separation. Developing 2D-LC methods begins with preliminary column selection, and while selecting columns that metaphorically yield orthogonal dimensions is very important, the process remains challenging. There are various metrics for quantifying column orthogonality, but there is currently no established methodology, with no existing methods accounting for the non-homogeneity of peak band broadening across each separation dimension. As such, scientists from University College London in London, UK, created a new technique for selecting which columns to use for two-dimensional liquid chromatography.
Analytical Challenges in Measuring Migration from Food Contact Materials
November 2nd 2015Food contact materials contain low molecular weight additives and processing aids which can migrate into foods leading to trace levels of contamination. Food safety is ensured through regulations, comprising compositional controls and migration limits, which present a significant analytical challenge to the food industry to ensure compliance and demonstrate due diligence. Of the various analytical approaches, LC-MS/MS has proved to be an essential tool in monitoring migration of target compounds into foods, and more sophisticated approaches such as LC-high resolution MS (Orbitrap) are being increasingly used for untargeted analysis to monitor non-intentionally added substances. This podcast will provide an overview to this area, illustrated with various applications showing current approaches being employed.
Assessing Thorium-Peptide Interactions Using Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography
February 4th 2025Paris-Saclay University scientists used hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to assess thorium’s interaction with peptides.