Tracking Plastic-derived Chemicals in Food and in Agri-food Systems using Non-Targeted Analysis with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Description:
Although it is generally accepted that chemical contaminants exist as complex mixtures in food, there are surprisingly few studies that describe the real-world mixtures to which consumers are exposed (the exposome). Plastic-based materials, used in agri-food systems or as food contact materials (FCMs), are of particular concern considering the diversity of chemical residues which may migrate from these materials and end up in our food. Suspect and non-targeted analyses (NTA), using high resolution mass spectrometry and advanced data processing tools, allow for the rapid characterization of thousands of never-before-studied chemicals in complex matrices.
In this talk, key applications of suspect and non-targeted analyses for plastic-derived chemicals in agri-food systems or as FCMs will be presented. First, methods using LC-QTOF-MS will be introduced for water, agricultural soil and food, and we will show how their application has revealed the contamination of agri-food systems by many previously unreported manmade chemicals, all with plastics as a common origin. In the second part, dedicated to FCMs, some recent studies on the non-targeted analyses (NTA) of migrants from FCMs using LC-QTOF-MS will be presented; results demonstrate the capacity of NTA to uncover new contaminants of concern (including perfluorinated chemicals, bisphenols and alternatives used as color developers). Using this approach, large chemical fingerprints can be recorded for each sample, offering new perspectives on the exposure to plastic-derived chemical contaminant mixtures.

Speaker: Stephane Bayen - McGill
Dr. Stéphane Bayen is an Assoc. Prof. in the Department of Food Science at McGill University (website: foodtox.lab.mcgill.ca/). His research interests include (i) analytical chemistry applied to the fingerprinting of trace chemicals in agri-food matrices, (ii) the fate of contaminants (contaminant chemistry; bioaccumulation; degradation) and (iii) ecological & human health risk assessments. His research uses high-resolution mass spectrometry and advanced big data processing tools, for the rapid characterization of thousands of never-before-studied chemicals in complex agri-food matrices. Dr Bayen became recipient of the Agilent Thought Leader Award in 2021, recognizing his leadership and contributions to the fields of Food Analysis and Food Authenticity.