IMMACULATE: Improving Mass Spectrometry Sustainability in Food, Environmental, and Health Research

Within the Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at Queen's University Belfast, (bio)analytical chemistry utilising mass spectrometry (MS), housed within the ASSET Technology Centre, is a fundamental enabling technology underpinning our food, environmental, and health research. Our capabilities extend across screening (spectroscopic platforms and ambient ionisation MS), targeted (liquid and gas chromatography single and triple quadrupole (TQ)-MS), and profiling methodologies from small molecules to proteins (quadrupole time-of-flight MS). One of the mainstay platforms used across our portfolio of work is TQ-MS coupled to liquid chromatography. This is used in, for example, targeted analysis for food contaminants, detection of antibiotics and their residues in food and environmental samples, and quantification of metabolites linked to health status. Much of this work is reliant on the sensitivity of instrumentation to detect and accurately quantify low abundant but biologically important metabolites, and to meet ever-increasingly demanding limits of detection and quantification for food and environmental regulations. Furthermore, the Xevo TQ Absolute shows excellent performance capabilities in direct infusion analysis which offers opportunities to remove the need for chromatographic separation in particular applications and therefore, decrease the environmental impact of each sample analysis. Furthermore, the use of direct infusion reduces the sample extraction and processing requirements, and the associated single-use plastic consumables and their environmental impact.

The concept of 'green' (bio)analytical chemistry is becoming central to the sustainability of analytical methods. This involves both a movement away from fossil-fuel based consumables and solvents and increasing the analytical throughput of workflows to reduce the environmental impact of each sample analysis. As such, we propose to pair the Waters Xevo TQ Absolute instrument with the UPC2 supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) and Acquity Premier system with a capability for two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) from Waters Corporation. This will uniquely equip the ASSET Technology Centre at QUB with cutting-edge instrumentation to position itself at the forefront of the essential transition of (bio)analytical chemistry using mass spectrometry to improve sustainability. This dedicated combination of analytical equipment would be the first in the UK and internationally, and we believe would act as a focal point for collaborative research across public and private research organisations.

Reflecting the breadth and strength of QUB research, this proposal has assembled an Investigatory team that will exploit the increased analytical capabilities enabled by this proposal in research that has already received substantial BBSRC funding (Cameron, Huws, and Elliott) and which fits into BBSRC Strategic Priorities including Animal Health (Huws, Hyland, and Elliott), Combatting AMR (Huws, Hyland, McGrath, and Gilpin), Data Driven Biology (Cameron, Huws, Hyland, Elliott, Connelly, McGrath, Gilpin, and Green), Food, Nutrition, and Health (Cameron, Elliott, Connelly, and Green), Healthy Ageing (Green), Integrative Microbiome Research (Cameron, Huws, Hyland, McGrath, Gilpin), Reducing Food Chain Waste (Huws, Hyland, and Elliott), Research to Inform Public Policy (Cameron, Huws, Hyland, Elliott, Connelly, McGrath, and Gilpin), Sustainably Enhancing Agriculture (Huws, Hyland, and Elliott), Systems Approaches (Cameron, Connelly, McGrath, Gilpin, and Green), and Welfare of Managed Animals (Huws, Hyland, and Elliott).

We propose to replace an existing TQ-MS instrument that no longer meets the analytical demands of our work with the newly released Waters Xevo TQ Absolute instrument that offers up to 15 times the sensitivity of previous generations. In parallel to market-leading analytical sensitivity and performance, the Waters Xevo TQ Absolute instrument also offers the lowest rate of power consumption, heat displacement, and nitrogen gas consumption of TQ-MS instruments available. The concept of 'green' (bio)analytical chemistry is becoming central to the sustainability of analytical methods. This involves both a movement away from fossil-fuel based consumables and solvents and increasing the analytical throughput of workflows to reduce the environmental impact of each sample analysis. As such, we propose to pair the Waters Xevo TQ Absolute instrument with the UPC2 supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) and Acquity Premier system with a capability for two-dimensional liquid chromatography from Waters Corporation. SFC is seen as a sustainable alternative to liquid chromatography using organic solvents, by using compressed liquid carbon dioxide as a mobile phase. The use of SFC in both academic and industry research is currently limited, largely because of the work requirement for method transfer without perceived benefit. The recognition of the importance of reducing reliance on organic solvents from the fossil fuel industry has altered this balance. By housing SFC and conventional LC through the Acquity Premier system with the Waters Xevo TQ Absolute would allow the ASSET Technology Centre to act as a collaborative centre to assist the broader analytical communities transition to sustainable methods. This will uniquely equip the ASSET Technology Centre to position itself at the forefront of the essential transition of (bio)analytical chemistry using mass spectrometry to improve sustainability.