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Analysis of heavy metals in pet food using ICP–OES was conducted to determine if there were potentially toxic elements present. Many of the samples showed significant concentrations of various toxic metals.

Heavy Metals in Pet Food: Changes in Heavy Metal Contamination in Pet Food Over the Past Decade

This work shows that the combination of THz-TDS and DFT can provide an effective
method to investigate the connection mode of hydrogen bonds and thus aid in characterizing compounds such as this potential drug candidate.

The Hydrogen Bonding Mode of 5-Fluorouracil-Proline Co-Crystal (5F-P) Studied by Terahertz (THz) Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory (DFT)

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) is combined with an extreme learning machine (ELM) model, tailored by genetic algorithm (GA) parameter searching, to produce a more robust analytical method for trace gas analysis of ethylene.

Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Analysis of Nanomaterials for Use in Nuclear and Material Applications

Laura Bush is the Editor in Chief for BioPharm International

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

An Update on Assessing Heavy Metals in Pet Food with ICP-MS

Tobias Konz of Nestlé Research, Lausanne, Switzerland and various associates have developed and validated what they describe as a reliable, robust, and easy-to-implement quantitative method for multielemental analysis of low-volume samples. The ICP-MS-based method comprises the analysis of 20 elements (Mg, P, S, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Mo, I, Cs, and Ba) in 10 μL of serum and 12 elements (Mg, S, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn Se, Br, Rb, Mo, and Cs) in less than 250,000 cells, and involved the analysis of elemental profiles of serum and sorted immune T cells derived from naıv̈e and tumor-bearing mice. The results indicate a tumor systemic effect on the elemental profiles of both serum and T cells. Konz and his colleagues believe their approach highlights promising applications of multielemental analysis in precious samples such as rare cell populations or limited volumes of biofluids that could provide a deeper understanding of the essential role of elements as cofactors in biological and pathological processes. Konz spoke to us about this work.

Quantitative Methods for Multielemental Analysis in Low Volume Biofluids 

Glenn Woods is ICP-MS Applications Engineer with Agilent Technologies, Manchester, UK.

Combined with appropriate selection of instrument components to reduce the sulfur background, ICP-MS using MS/MS with oxygen reaction cell gas can provide accurate low-level analysis of sulfur and sulfur isotope ratios in aqueous and organic matrices. This is useful in applications in life science, clinical research, pharmaceutical development, food safety, environmental monitoring, geochemistry, and petrochemistry.

Accurate, Low-Level Sulfur Analysis by ICP-MS Using MS/MS with Oxygen Reaction Cell Gas

Metallomics seeks to understand the metallobiochemistry of cells and organisms in health and disease. This article explains the principle of laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for imaging applications and highlights its potential to provide additional insights in bioanalysis and metallomics.

Imaging of Trace Elements Using Laser Ablation–Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry: Emerging New Applications

For a number of elements, spectroscopic interferences can have a significant impact on the ability to achieve low detection limits in ICP-MS. We investigate the mechanisms in multi-quadrupole ICP-MS that are designed to remove these interferences.

Multi-Quadrupole ICP-MS: Pushing Limits of Detection to the Next Decimal

Inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) relies on the use of a peristaltic pump for sample introduction. Here, two conventional peristaltic pumps are compared with a new pump based on the “easy click” principle for the analytical figures of merit.

Comparison of Peristaltic Pumps Used for Sample Introduction in Inductively Coupled Plasma–Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES)

Single-cell analysis is important in biology
and medicine, because it takes into account cell heterogeneity and cellular dynamics, which are governed by cellular crosstalk and the vicinity of cells. Thus, it is of utmost importance to obtain not only information about the heterogeneity of a cell population, but also about their spatial arrangement.