SBIR Phase I:Improved Photoionization Source for LC/MS Analysis for Food Safety

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will lead to a new technology for analyzing contaminants in food substances. This is an extremely challenging analytical problem due to the vast range of contaminants that need to be screened and the complex and varied matrices of different food commodities. The state-of-the-art in analysis is based on electrospray ionization (ESI) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Unfortunately for environmental and biological samples ESI suffers several limitations including matrix ion suppression, poor dynamic range, and inability to ionize nonpolar compounds. We will significantly improve on the analytical accuracy of food contaminants by implementing atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), which allows much better control of the undesirable ion-molecule chemistry that plagues ESI. We will test combined ESI/APPI configurations and modes of operation and achieve critical control of ion-molecule interactions from dual ionization. A total system approach will be investigated to develop the optimum technology solution. The broader/commercial impacts of this research are: (i) significantly improved analysis of harmful compounds in foods providing significant societal benefit in terms of health, well being, and lower healthcare costs, (ii) significant new revenue to Syagen through increased sales off APPI-based products, (iii) improve the technical competitiveness of the U.S. in food safety for which Europe currently leads, and (iv) increase the value proposition for expensive analytical instrumentation by improving the quality and speed of chemical analyses.