Gilson Connect
Many sample types, such as those from the environment or food, undergo testing to detect contaminating residues such as pesticides, antibiotics, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and compounds of health concern. While the exact governmental regulations surrounding testing methods differ by country, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) is one of the routine methods used to clean up samples before analysis. As a routine step in residue testing, is often a part of the workflow to prepare samples before analysis by a variety of chromatography methods such as GC, HPLC, or LC/MS. GPC removes unwanted substances such as lipids, proteins, cell debris, pigments, humic acid, and sulfur, that can interfere with downstream chromatography steps used to detect the residues. Including GPC cleanup in residue testing can help make chromatography columns last longer, protect instrumentation, and improve residue detection accuracy.
Plastics are ubiquitous in our society and are extensively used in a large variety of packaged foods. There is currently a great deal of interest in measuring the migration of these compounds into food products, as considerable uncertainty exists regarding the human health risks associated with exposure to such compounds. This application note describes the use of gel permeation chromatography (GPC) cleanup to separate a variety of plastic additives from a representative edible oil sample prior to analysis.
Post-extraction cleanup methods are commonly used in residue analysis workflows. The methods vary and the choice of method can depend on many circumstances: the type of sample, type of analyte, and regulatory requirements. This article focuses on two chromatography-based methods for post-extraction cleanup: gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and solid phase extraction (SPE).
