Focal point: Hyphenated mass spectrometry: A. Liquid chromatography - Mass spectrometry

The identification of unknown compounds is essential in a wide variety of research areas and especially so in environmental analysis. Combining liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry today allows the identification of substances that were not amenable to classical techniques. Environmental toxicologists and chemists increasingly focus on chemicals that can potentially cause adverse effects in organisms and humans. Since effect concentrations are often very low, but also because the matrix can affect the sensitivity, selective enrichment has become a popular tool for sample clean-up and lowering the limit of detection. Advances in environmental analysis, including techniques based on molecular recognition for selective enrichment or effect-oriented research were presented in this session.