GEN-MKT-18-7897-A
Jun 23, 2017 | Blogs, Environmental / Industrial, Food / Beverage | 0 comments
The consumption of pharmaceuticals and personal care products is a day to day occurrence. Once consumed the body excretes the remaining part of the compound which is not absorbed. This waste, flushed down the toilet, makes its way through the sewage system before arriving at a treatment facility where it was then processed with chemicals to ensure its cleanliness. Despite being washed, there can remain trace amounts of bacteria, hormones, metals, and antibiotics in whatever you consume, not just water.Get the Tech Note Here >
Here, I want to focus on antibiotics, not just their overuse as I have detailed in an earlier blog Quantitation of Antibiotics and Insecticides in Poultry Feed using LC-MS/MS, but their presence in the human body, specifically children. As mentioned, antibiotics can reach our water supply via elimination. However, they are also present in meat, eggs, milk, other food, and water pollution which can pose problems for developing bodies. For sure, there has been much attention paid to rampant over-prescribing and the resulting ineffectiveness in treating common infections. But what do we know about measuring its presence in children who are not currently taking a course of treatment?
First, let me share with you the following application note, Rapid and Sensitive Analysis of Antibiotics in Children’s Urine Using the X500R QTOF System, which discusses how antibiotics, a class of secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms, can be measured in biological samples using the X500R QTOF system. In their analysis, researchers diligently screened for more than 200 varieties of antibiotics in eight categories and concluded the benefits of using single-injection alongside SCIEX OS software. According to the experimental results, eight compounds in four categories were detected in 104 samples.
The Take Away:The possible overuse of antibiotics/veterinary drugs in food production could be catastrophic as the drugs may become ineffective and then the bacteria may become immune and untreatable. Therefore, stricter monitoring of antibiotics in food levels is required. Perhaps your lab is already involved in the monitoring of antibiotics in biological samples, and my hope is that you can further your studies using methods like this one. The benefit is that you get to use a routine mass spec system anyone in the lab can operate, using single injection technology and more.
Regulated laboratories are evolving faster than ever. New analytical modalities, higher sample throughput, increasing regulatory scrutiny, and leaner teams are reshaping how work gets done. At the same time, expectations for data integrity, standardization, and operational efficiency continue to increase complexity and/or scope. In this environment, LC-MS software is no longer simply an instrument control platform—it has become a critical part of a laboratory’s quality management system. The question is no longer whether your lab has changed, but whether your software has evolved to support the way regulated labs operate today, and if they are ready and able to meet the demands, they will face tomorrow.
Analyst software has long been a trusted foundation in regulated LC-MS laboratories—and for many, it still performs reliably today. But regulated environments are evolving faster than ever. As labs transition to Windows 11, strengthen cybersecurity policies, modernize IT infrastructure, and prepare for future compliance expectations, software decisions are no longer just about what works today—they’re about managing tomorrow’s risk. Analyst will not be supported on Windows 11. While some labs may continue operating in unsupported environments temporarily, the bigger question is: when that risk becomes reality, will your lab be reacting under pressure—or executing a planned mitigation strategy with confidence?
As regulatory scrutiny increases and detection requirements tighten, laboratories are facing a new question: How can TFA be measured reliably, sensitively, and at scale?
Posted by
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Share this post with your network