Contaminants in food - Microplastics

Emerging Topics in Food Safety is a new quarterly event series for 2022, designed to showcase food safety issues that are important in the European, Middle East and Africa regions. Each session will highlight different food safety topics covering those that are more familiar or emerging or hot topics.

Session 1: Microplastics analysis in food by µFTIR and chemical images

The vast array of different plastic types available on today’s consumer market makes the qualitative or quantitative analysis of microplastics extremely challenging and there are no officially recognized methods available by now. During our speech, we will present the high adaptability of our developed and validated method for the microplastics detection and identification in different food matrices.

Presenter: Federico Benetti (Ecsin LAB Director - part of Mérieux NutriSciences Group)

Federico Benetti has a degree in Biology and a PhD in molecular physiology and structural biology, both obtained at the University of Padua. He later joined the Laboratory of prion biology at SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste).

Since 2011, he focused his research on the sustainable development of nanotechnologies at ECSIN (European Centre for the Sustainable Impact of Nanotechnology), where he currently hold the position of Laboratory Executive Director.

Session 2: Food packaging and microplastics analyses via automated FTIR Microscopy

We will present the workflow, spectra, and analyses for a food packaging multi-layer film and for microplastics. Using modern hardware and software tools, these can now be done quickly and simply by any level of user, giving far greater analytical utility to busy laboratories.

Presenter: Dr. Michael Bradley (Senior Product Manager, FTIR and FTIR microscopy, Thermo Fisher Scientific)

Dr. Michael Bradley taught graduate and undergraduate chemistry for 15 years, prior to becoming a field applications scientist with Thermo Fisher Scientific. He worked with teams to develop and launch the Thermo Scientific™ Nicolet™ iN10 FTIR Microscope and NicoletV iS10 FTIR spectrometers. He then led the development of the Thermo Scientific™ Nicolet™ iS50 FT-IR spectrometer and, most recently, the Thermo Scientific™ Nicolet™ RaptIR™ FTIR microscope. He is now Senior Product Manager, FTIR and FTIR microscopy with additional roles in FT-IR and Raman training and ongoing product development, helping customers utilize the spectroscopy tools and ensuring customer feedback reaches into next-generation tools. He also sits on the Editorial Advisory Board for Spectroscopy Magazine.

Session 3: Pyrolysis/GC/MS for microplastic identification - benefits of high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry

Today, microplastics are present in the terrestrial and aquatic environment. They may consist of not only the pure synthetic polymer but also include residuals of the monomer, plasticizers, flame retardants, and many other toxic additives that can have a negative impact on human health. Pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) presents a promising alternative for identification and quantification of microplastics where throughput is critical. Application of Orbitrap mass spectrometry improves considerably the selectivity of the analysis and brings new opportunities of the pyrolysis products identification. Furthermore, this analytical approach enables time-saving detection of bulk amounts of micro- and nanoplastics below the lower size limit of the microscopy techniques.

Presenter: Lukasz Rajski (Product Specialist, Thermo Fisher Scientific)

Łukasz Rajski works as product application specialist at Thermo Fisher Scientific. He holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry. Łukasz has over 10 years of experience in pesticide residue analysis. He is an expert in the development and validation of analytical methods. Dr. Rajski works with advanced mass spectrometry techniques (both high-resolution and triple quadrupole) coupled to ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, high-performance ion chromatography, and gas chromatography. Łukasz Rajski is a co-author of numerous articles published in scientific journals.

Who should attend:

• Lab managers and analysts that have analytical challenges when testing food and beverages
• QA/QC and research laboratories that want to keep up to date and also be ready for future challenges
• Lab leaders who want to leverage the full analytical potential of their analytical instrumentation