Agilent Technologies

Data Integrity Options for GMP Facilities

Cary UV Workstation provides seamless method setup and analysis capabilities. When combined with Agilent OpenLab, data integrity is assured with secure database storage for all electronic records.

Videos

Agilent Cary 3500 UV-Vis Spectrophotometer with Agilent OpenLab

Advance Your Lab Operations with Agilent's CrossLab Enterprise Services with Charles von Dortmond

Minimize Compliance Risk using Agilent CrossLab Compliance Services with Garry Wright 

Why Access to Instrument Utilization Data is Critical for Optimizing the Laboratory with Greg Stevens

Podcasts

Advance Your Lab Operations Series

https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/spec_w/elemenal_analysis

Join us for an educational webcast on preparation and analysis of foods by inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) using FDA Methods EAM 4.4 and 4.7. We will provide tips and techniques to prepare a wide range of compositionally diverse foods in a single batch including acid selection, vessels, and programs. Then we will demonstrate elemental analysis by both ICP-OES and ICP-MS and use screening capabilities to gain insights into potential spectral and matrix interferences and sample composition, and assist in method development. By implementing these capabilities, food testing and commercial labs can increase throughput, reduce sample reanalysis, and save on operational costs.

Discover how to perform microwave digestion of 40 compositionally diverse food samples and blanks in a single batch

Understand which atomic spectroscopy technique is ideal for your elemental analysis lab

Review FDA-recommended methods for sample preparation and elemental analysis by ICP-OES and ICP-MS

Learn how to increase food analysis throughput with optimized sample prep and analysis techniques

Elaine Hasty, Senior Applications Chemist, CEM Corporation

Jenny Nelson, Applications Scientist, Agilent Technologies

: Thursday, November 11, 2020 at 11am EST| 8am PST| 4pm GMT| 5pm CET

On demand available after final airing until Nov. 11, 2021

Webcasts

*** Live: Thursday, November 11, 2020 at 11am EST| 8am PST| 4pm GMT| 5pm CET ***Learn about FDA-approved methodology for microwave digestion and analysis of compositionally diverse food samples and tips and tricks to improve analysis, speed sample prep, and reduce retesting.***On demand available after final airing until Nov. 11, 2021***

Elemental Analysis after Microwave Digestion of Various Food Products

Articles

Advance Your Lab Operations with Agilent's CrossLab Enterprise Services

Whether the goal is food safety, ensuring quality, or establishing provenance, measuring the trace element content of foods and beverages that we all consume is of paramount importance. While some elements are essential for our well being at low concentrations, others like lead and chromium are highly toxic and more still are being linked to viral, neurological, and other diseases. Food scares related to contamination or poor quality not only constitute a health risk, they also undermine consumer confidence. This can lead to lost earnings through reduced sales and loss of credibility through adverse publicity. 

Atomic spectroscopy is well established for the analysis of metals in foods and the technique employed often depends on the requirements of the application in terms of elements of interest, expected concentrations, and number and type of samples. Other important procurement factors that influence instrument selection include purchase and operational budget for consumables, gases, power and labor, as well as service and maintenance costs. 

With lab budgets coming under increasing pressure, Agilent has expanded its atomic spectroscopy portfolio to include the 4100 Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometer (MP-AES). MP-AES is a new analytical technique that uses a microwave-induced nitrogen plasma to provide elemental analysis, with significantly reduced running costs through the use of nitrogen as its plasma gas. 

This work describes the analysis of various certified and standard reference materials per the sample descriptions below:   

NIES CRM No.7 Tea Leaves: from National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan

NIES CRM No.10c Rice Flour: from National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan

CRM-Milk Powder: from High Purity Standards, USA

CRM-Oyster Tissue: from High Purity Standards, USA

A simple acid digestion method was used to prepare the samples. Initially, 0.25 g of the tea leaves CRM, and 1 g of rice flour CRM were weighed into separate 250 mL beakers. This was then followed by the addition of 10 mL of HNO

 and each beaker was covered with a watch glass. The samples were heated on a hot plate until completely dissolved. After cooling to room temperature, each digest was transferred to a 100 mL volumetric flask and made up to the required volume by adding Milli-Q water. 

Table I: Agilent 4100 MP-AES operating parameters 

Pre-prepared sample solutions, CRM-Milk Powder and CRM-Oyster Tissue in 4% HNO

 were purchased from High Purity Standards, USA. Working standards and a blank were matrix-matched with the samples. 

Table II: Agilent 4100 MP-AES element wavelength and  method detection limits 

The innovative 4100 MP-AES with its proprietary microwave excitation assembly is a sequential atomic emission spectroscopic technique capable of fast, unattended multielement analysis at varying concentration levels using a nitrogen plasma. The unique microwave excitation assembly focuses and contains the microwave energy that is created via a concentrated axial magnetic field around the torch. This creates a robust toroidal plasma that allows the stable introduction of liquid samples. With a central channel temperature of ~5000 K, MP-AES is highly suited to spectroscopic analysis because it creates high intensity atomization emission lines. In addition to simplified spectra, nitrogen-MP-AES offers reduced operating costs and increased lab safety compared to flame AA, through the avoidance of costly and highly flammable gases such as acetylene. The analysis was carried out using an Agilent 4100 MP–AES equipped with a standard MP-AES torch, concentric nebulizer, and glass cyclonic spray chamber. Operating parameters are shown in Table I. 

Table III: Results of NIES No.7 tea leaves 

The method detection limits were determined from the analysis of digested blank samples. The selected analytical wavelengths and method detection limits (3σ) are listed in Table II. 

Results of the analysis of major, minor, and trace extractable elements in different foodstuffs are listed in the tables below. The measured values (carried out in triplicate) are in good agreement with the certified values for all CRM and SRM samples. 

MP-AES offers any food testing facilities dependent on acetylene-based instrumentation a real alternative in terms of sensitivity, multi-element capability and speed of analysis, while cutting operating costs and improving the safety of the lab environment through the use of non-flammable nitrogen. This study shows that following a quick and simple acid digestion sample preparation procedure (required for two of the four diverse food samples), all four certified and standard reference materials can be analyzed for trace and major element concentrations with good accuracy by MP-AES. The addition of the Agilent 4107 Nitrogen Generator is also possible in order to perform this analysis with significantly lower gas costs or for analysis in remote locations where sourcing of gases is costly or difficult. 

Table VI: Results of NIES No.10c rice flour 

 2315 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95052 

Whether the goal is food safety, ensuring quality, or establishing provenance, measuring the trace element content of foods and beverages that we all consume is of paramount importance. While some elements are essential for our well being at low concentrations, others like lead and chromium are highly toxic and more still are being linked to viral, neurological, and other diseases. Food scares related to contamination or poor quality not only constitute a health risk, they also undermine consumer confidence. This can lead to lost earnings through reduced sales and loss of credibility through adverse publicity.