A fit-for-purpose method to monitor 16 European Union PAHs in food: results of five years of official food control in two Italian regions.

A gas-chromatographic single-quadrupole analytical method for the analysis of the 16 priority European Union (EU) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in food is presented. The method fulfils the request of Regulation EU 836/2011 for an analytical procedure to be used for official control of PAHs in food in EU member states. The sample preparation involves a pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) with an in-cell clean-up step followed by a lipid removal using solid-phase extraction (SPE) on a styrene divinylbenzene stationary phase (SDVB) and a final gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) step.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected from Central Adriatic Sea.

One-hundred and thirty-four samples of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected along Central Adriatic Sea in 2013 were examined to determine the levels of fifteen congeners of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The purified samples were analysed by gas-chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) applying the isotopic dilution. Only four congeners (PBDE 47, PBDE 99, PBDE 49 and PBDE 100) were present above the established limits of quantification with mean concentrations equal to 73, 30, 19 and 18 pg g(-1), respectively.

High-throughput histamine analysis approach in an official control laboratory: analytical methods and four years fish products results.

A highly practical two-tier approach involving a screening and a confirmatory method was set up to efficiently test histamine in fish products in the frame of official controls. After their validation, the routine management of the two procedures was simplified as far as possible ensuring a strict quality data control and maximizing the cost-effectiveness. Accordingly five hundred and ninety batches of fish products (3129 determinations) sampled from the Italian authorities were successfully analyzed over a four year period (2008-2012).

Temporal trends of PCBs in feed and dietary influence in farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

As a rainbow trout producer, Italy is accounted as fifth in the world and second in continental Europe. In this study, the levels of the eighteen PCBs in feed and in trout, showed a statistical significant difference (p<0.01) throughout the years, with a declining trend from 2005 to 2010.

PCB concentrations in freshwater wild brown trouts (Salmo trutta trutta L) from Marche rivers, Central Italy.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of PCBs contamination of wild brown trouts (Salmo trutta trutta L) caught in Marche Region rivers and to study the percentage contribution of the sum of the six indicators PCBs with respect to the sum of eighteen congeners in wild brown trouts. The determination of eighteen PCBs was made on the edible portion (fillets) of trouts by GC-ECD analysis. Fish samples were collected from fourteen rivers, selected to represent the fluvial pollution in the Marche Region.

LC-MS determination of MPTP at sub-ppm level in pethidine hydrochloride.

An HPLC-MS with electrospray ionisation method for the determination of MPTP at sub-ppm level in pethidine hydrochloride has been developed and validated. Ionisation is performed by positive-ion electrospray and the quadrupole filter mass spectrometer is operated in the single ion recording mode. Chromatographic separation was achieved in gradient elution using a symmetry C18, 5 microm, 150 mm x 2.

Influence of aeration and sludge retention time on ammonium oxidation to nitrite and nitrate.

Partial nitrification to nitrite was reported to be technically feasible and economically favourable, especially when wastewater with high ammonium concentrations or low C/N ratios are treated. Nitritation can be obtained by selectively inhibiting nitrite oxidizing microrganisms through appropriate regulation of the system's pH, temperature, and sludge retention time. In addition to already known methods, the work showed that aeration patterns may play a relevant role too.