Neotron’s Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) department

Management of contaminants in food is a primary public concern. The emphasis on food quality and safety has prompted the development of several stringent legislations. Contaminants’ residue analysis is really important for international trade and regulatory control to ensure health protection.

In the LCMS Department of Neotron, the determination of contaminants such as Mycotoxins, Veterinary drugs, and Pesticides, which control is required for food safety, are carried out through cutting-edge technologies.

Coupled chromatography - MS systems are popular in chemical analysis because the individual capabilities of each technique are enhanced synergistically. While liquid chromatography separates mixtures with multiple components, mass spectrometry provides the structural identity of the individual components with high molecular specificity and detection sensitivity. This tandem technique can analyse biochemical, organic, and inorganic compounds commonly found in complex samples of environmental and biological origin.

The department consists of two instrumental rooms with more than 30 LCMS systems and an open space dedicated to recalculation. More than 40 analysts work to control and interpret the data outcome. Checking for contaminant pesticides residues in different products has been the first activity implemented since the beginning. Every method has been validated on the specific matrix to respect the standard requested by the current regulation and by the Clients.

The research focuses on developing high-resolution methods in the analytical field according to a multi-screening approach to co-determine a great variety of different molecules.

The LCMS system consists of the following steps:

• the extracted samples are loaded and sorted in the UPLC (liquid chromatograph) that is the part responsible for the separation of the compounds;
• the mass spectrometer is the part responsible for the identification and quantification of the analytes;
• a specific software processes the output for data acquisition and elaboration.

The main work of an LCMS analyst consists in:

• setting the required instrumental method;
• loading the extracted samples;
• evaluating all the gathered data;
• and, finally, validating results.

To request an analysis, or to learn more about the services on the LCMS Department of Neotron, please do not hesitate to contact the Neotron team for further information at https://www.neotron.it/en/contacts