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Molecules
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Emerging Analytical Methods for Contaminants in Food and Environment
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Emerging Analytical Methods for Contaminants in Food and Environment

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Analytical Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1047

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Miguel Ángel González-Curbelo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad EAN, Bogotá, Colombia
Interests: multi-residue analysis; contaminants; environmental and food analysis; sample preparation; chromatographic techniques, mass spectrometry; analytical methods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The presence of chemical contaminants in food and environmental matrices continues to represent a major challenge for public health, ecosystem integrity, and regulatory compliance worldwide. A wide range of pollutants, including pesticide residues, veterinary drugs, mycotoxins, heavy metals, and other persistent organic pollutants, as well as emerging contaminants, can enter the food chain and natural environments through agricultural practices, industrial activities, and diffuse pollution sources. Reliable identification and quantification of these substances at ultra-trace levels require innovative, highly sensitive, and selective analytical approaches capable of handling complex matrices. This Special Issue aims to gather cutting-edge research on the advancements in analytical methods for the determination of contaminants in food and environmental samples. Contributions addressing novel sample preparation strategies, chromatographic and spectrometric techniques, high-resolution mass spectrometry, method development and validation, and large-scale monitoring studies are particularly welcome. By highlighting emerging trends, this Special Issue seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of current analytical capabilities and future directions in contaminant assessment.

Prof. Dr. Miguel Ángel González-Curbelo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • food contaminants
  • sample preparation
  • multi-residue analysis
  • chromatography
  • mass spectrometry
  • residue monitoring
 

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 7604 KB  
Article
Monitoring Ethylene Oxide Residues in Food: A Simplified QuEChERS-Based GC-MS/MS Method for Routine Analysis
by Tabita Mauti, Daniela Delfino, Valentina Nicolini, Barbara Droghei, Daniele Colangelo, Daniela Triolone, Fulvia Fiorucci, Paolo Di Giustino, Marta Mancuso, Marianna Leo, Francesca D’Onofrio, Alessandro Ubaldi and Katia Russo
Molecules 2026, 31(11), 1978; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31111978 - 5 Jun 2026
Viewed by 196
Abstract
Ethylene oxide (EtO) has been banned in the European Union since 1991 as a fumigant for food commodities. Nevertheless, recurrent contamination incidents, especially since 2020, involving imports from India, have raised significant food safety concerns. Despite regulatory measures, EtO and its metabolite, 2-chloroethanol [...] Read more.
Ethylene oxide (EtO) has been banned in the European Union since 1991 as a fumigant for food commodities. Nevertheless, recurrent contamination incidents, especially since 2020, involving imports from India, have raised significant food safety concerns. Despite regulatory measures, EtO and its metabolite, 2-chloroethanol (2-CE), continue to be detected in a variety of food products, including dried foods, dietary supplements, and food additives. This study presents a QuEChERS-based method involving the conversion of EtO into 2-CE, which is subsequently quantified by isotope dilution gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). In contrast to previously published methods, this protocol utilises an Agilent HP-5ms Ultra Inert column (30 m × 250 μm × 0.25 mm), routinely employed in our laboratory for multi-residue pesticide analysis. The proposed approach is therefore readily adaptable to laboratories already performing multi-residue analyses, as it does not require modifications to existing instrumental configurations. The method was validated in accordance with SANTE/11312/2021 guidelines. A total of 84 samples, primarily imported from India, as well as from Brazil, Argentina, and the United Kingdom, were analysed. 2-CE was detected in four samples, and in two cases, the sum of EtO and 2-CE, expressed as EtO, exceeded the European Union (EU) maximum residue limit (MRL). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Analytical Methods for Contaminants in Food and Environment)
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20 pages, 1787 KB  
Article
High-Throughput Determination of 210 Pesticide Residues in Gherkins by QuEChERS Coupled with LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS
by Mehmet Keklik, Eylem Odabas, Tuba Buyuksirit-Bedir, Ozgur Golge, Miguel Ángel González-Curbelo and Bulent Kabak
Molecules 2026, 31(8), 1248; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31081248 - 9 Apr 2026
Viewed by 575
Abstract
Pesticide residues represent an important group of chemical contaminants in agricultural commodities and require reliable analytical strategies for accurate monitoring. In this study, a high-throughput analytical workflow was applied for the determination of 210 pesticide residues in gherkins. Sample preparation was performed using [...] Read more.
Pesticide residues represent an important group of chemical contaminants in agricultural commodities and require reliable analytical strategies for accurate monitoring. In this study, a high-throughput analytical workflow was applied for the determination of 210 pesticide residues in gherkins. Sample preparation was performed using the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method, including extraction followed by dispersive solid-phase extraction clean-up. Residue determination was carried out using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The analytical methods were comprehensively validated in the gherkin matrix in accordance with the SANTE 11312/2021 v2 guidelines. Limits of quantification were ≤0.01 mg kg−1 for all compounds. Recovery values ranged from 75.7% to 113.7%, while precision values remained below 20%, demonstrating satisfactory method accuracy and precision. Expanded measurement uncertainty values ranged between 7.6% and 41.3%, confirming the robustness of the validated analytical workflow. The validated methods were subsequently applied to a large-scale monitoring dataset comprising 905 gherkin samples collected from five major production regions in Türkiye. Pesticide residues were detected in 67.6% of the analysed samples, and 37 different compounds were identified. The most frequently detected pesticides were flonicamid (36.2%) and propamocarb (27.5%). Multi-residue contamination was frequently observed, reflecting complex pesticide application patterns in gherkin cultivation systems. Although chronic exposure estimates remained well below toxicological thresholds for both adults and children, certain exposure scenarios indicated that acute exposure for children may warrant further attention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Analytical Methods for Contaminants in Food and Environment)
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