Small-sized microplastics and pigmented particles in bottled mineral water.

Up to now, only a few studies about microparticle contamination of bottled mineral water have been published. The smallest analysed particle size was 5 μm. However, due to toxicological reasons, especially microparticles smaller than 1.

Development of an optimal filter substrate for the identification of small microplastic particles in food by micro-Raman spectroscopy.

When analysing microplastics in food, due to toxicological reasons it is important to achieve clear identification of particles down to a size of at least 1 μm. One reliable, optical analytical technique allowing this is micro-Raman spectroscopy. After isolation of particles via filtration, analysis is typically performed directly on the filter surface.

Fast, sensitive point of care electrochemical molecular system for point mutation and select agent detection.

Point of care molecular diagnostics benefits from a portable battery-operated device capable of performing a fast turnaround using reliable inexpensive cartridges. We describe a prototype device for performing a molecular diagnostics test for clinical and biodefense samples in 16 minutes using a prototype capable of an 8 minute PCR reaction, followed by hybridization and detection on an electrochemical microarray based on the i-STAT® system. We used human buccal swabs for hemochromatosis testing including in-device DNA extraction.

[Residue analysis of pyrethroid insecticides in cereal grains, milled fractions and bread].

A procedure is described for the residual analysis of eight pyrethroid insecticides at levels of 2-5 micrograms/kg. Residues are extracted from cereal grains, flour or bread with a mixture of acetonitrile/water (2 + 1) and are partitioned into petroleum ether. Clean-up is performed by gel permeation chromatography on Bio-Beads S-X3 and an additional Florisil column.