Clean Screen® DAU Used in Heroin-related Death Study Conducted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

In produce processing, water used to wash both fresh and fresh-cut produce is commonly treated with sanitizers for the purpose of controlling pathogens and minimizing microbial cross-contamination. Chlorine-based sanitizers are most commonly used for produce processing in the food industry (FAO/WHO, 2008). While chlorine’s efficacy in controlling pathogens is well recognized, one of the main concerns is the reactivity of chlorine with organic and inorganic substances to generate harmful disinfection bi-products (DBPs) and emerging DBPs of concern including haloacetonitriles, halonitromethanes, haloacetamides, and nitrosamines (NISAMs). Monitoring these DBPs is necessary to protect food safety but comprehensive analytical methods have been lacking. 

In a recent paper authored by Wan-Ning Lee et al., published in Food Chemistry (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.02.134), UCT’s Enviro-Clean® 521 sorbent (200 mg/ 6 mL) was employed to analyze DBPs and NISAMs in food wash water. 

In a recent article published in Lab on a Chip, authors Donghee Lee et al., (DOI: 10.1039/C8LC00320C), used UCT’s specialty chemical (Tridecafluoro-1, 1, 2, 2-Tetrahydrooctyl)-1- Trichlorosilane (T2492-KG) in a mold-making process. This involved the production of a microfluidic cell compression device that improved a microfluidic device proposed previously by equipping it with an array of cell compression units. The device contained a 5×5 array of alginate-chondrocyte constructs. This microfluidic cell was employed to investigate human cartilage cells. T2492-KG played an integral part of this procedure.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), in particular perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), have been widely studied due to their persistence, distribution, toxicity and bio-accumulation in humans and the environment. These compounds can enter the environment through landfills (products containing stain repellents, food packaging), wastewater treatment plants (industry waste) and from the use of firefighting foams (aqueous film-forming foams [AFFFs]). In a recent study by Susan Genualdi et al., (FOOD ADDITIVES & CONTAMINANTS: PART A, 2017 https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2017.1361046 ), UCT’s QuEChERS kits (AOAC 2007.1, 6 g MgSO₄ with 1.5 g NaCl) and dispersive SPE (dSPE) sorbent (0.9 g MgSO₄, 0.3 g primary secondary amine [PSA], 0.15 g graphitized carbon black [GCB]) and were used for the extraction of PFAS in cranberries.