Novelties in automated sample clean-up to be presented at analytica 2020  

LCTech GmbH will be presenting their innovative solutions for automated sample clean-up in food, feed, environmental and biological samples at analytica 2020 from March 31 to April 3 in Hall A2, booth 400.

Due to the increasing pollution of the environment and thus in food and feed, the supervisory authorities are demanding stricter regulations for analytics. This poses new challenges for laboratories.

In order to support laboratories worldwide with their tasks, LCTech GmbH, based in Obertaufkirchen, Germany, develops and distributes solutions that automate the step of sample clean-up. Automation is an essential part for the standardisation of pollutant analysis in the international trade of goods. The systems do not only relieve laboratory staff but also the environment by miniaturised processes that save harmful solvents.

The proven Freestyle robotic system is now also available in a special version with a reduced fluoropolymer content for SPE clean-up. All system material that comes into contact with the sample is therefore almost free of these substances. As a result, blank values that interfere with the low detection limits required in PFAS analysis are reliably excluded.

LCTech presents another innovation in the field of pesticide residue analysis: An automated online QuEChERS clean-up with HPLC direct injection for fatty matrices.

With miniaturized SPE columns containing an LCTech proprietary sorbent for high matrix binding, the non-dispersive process can now be used automatically on the Freestyle system for matrices with high fat content (>10 %) in addition to the standard and complex dried matrices already established in laboratories.

In addition to the proven Freestyle ThermELUTE™ robotic system for fully automated measurement below European limits, LCTech presents a special highlight in the area of mycotoxin clean-up: The multi-mycotoxin clean-up column CrossTOX® as a time and cost saving alternative to dilute-and-shoot.

The columns, which are only 3 cm in size, achieve exceptionally high levels of extract clean-up in both manual and automated processing, making data easier to interpret and extending the run time of the LC-MS/MS system between maintenance intervals.

At the same time, significantly less cost-intensive internal standard is required than with a conventional dilute and shoot procedure. With only one extraction protocol the multi-mycotoxin columns can be used for all matrices commonly occurring in this analysis.

For the clean-up of PCBs and dioxins LCTech offers with DEXTech 16, DEXTech Pure and DEXTech Heat systems that satisfy every requirement. The systems separate PCBs and dioxins into a fraction each, which can be measured in a GC-MS run afterwards. With DEXTech Heat, even samples that harden at room temperature, such as palm oil, PFAD or stearin, can be processed quickly and easily.

DEXTech 16 also allows fully automated unattended processing of 15 samples in sequence and thus realises a particularly high sample throughput.

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