Laura Bush

This issue contains interviews that provide an excellent sampling of the fascinating science that will be presented at this year’s SciX conference.

A 2009 study found many heavy metals in pet food. Has anything changed?

We are pleased to present here part II of our celebration of Spectroscopy’s 35th year of publishing. For this special coverage, we asked leading spectroscopists to share their perspectives on a range of spectroscopic techniques and applications.

In celebration of Spectroscopy’s 35th Anniversary, leading spectroscopists discuss important issues and challenges in analytical spectroscopy.

As the use of nanoparticles in a wide range of applications continues to increase, the need for techniques to analyze these particles also increases. Javier Laserna of the University of Málaga, in Spain, has developed an approach to measure individual nanoparticles in air using optical trapping (OT) combined with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Laserna received the 2018 Lester W. Strock award for this development as well as his broader research on analytical methods and instrumentation using LIBS. He recently spoke to us about this work.

The detection, quantitation, and characterization of nanoparticles using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and in particular using single-particle ICP-MS (SP-ICP-MS), has developed significantly in recent years. However, the difficulties involved in this type of analysis vary, depending on the composition of the nanoparticles. Martín Resano of the University of Zaragoza, together with colleagues from Ghent University, has recently developed a method for characterizing nanoparticles made from silicon dioxide (Si02), which are much more challenging to detect than those made from silver or gold. He recently spoke to us about this work.