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

在贝尔法斯特女王大学全球食品安全研究所（IGFS）内，ASSET技术中心内的（生物）分析化学利用质谱（MS）是支撑我们食品，环境和健康研究的基本支持技术。我们的能力扩展到筛选（光谱平台和环境电离质谱），靶向（液体和气相色谱单和三重四极杆(TQ)-质谱），以及从小分子到蛋白质的分析方法（四极杆飞行时间质谱）。TQ-MS耦合液相色谱是我们工作组合中使用的主要平台之一。例如，这可用于对食品污染物进行针对性分析，检测食品和环境样品中的抗生素及其残留物，以及量化与健康状况有关的代谢物。这项工作很大程度上依赖于仪器的灵敏度，以检测和准确定量低丰度但具有重要生物学意义的代谢物，并满足食品和环境法规对检测和定量要求日益严格的限制。此外，Xevo TQ绝对在直接输注分析中表现出出色的性能，这为消除特定应用中对色谱分离的需要提供了机会，因此，减少了每个样品分析对环境的影响。此外，直接注射的使用减少了样品提取和处理要求，以及相关的一次性塑料消耗品及其对环境的影响。“绿色”（生物）分析化学的概念正在成为分析方法可持续性的核心。这既包括远离化石燃料消耗品和溶剂，也包括提高工作流程的分析吞吐量，以减少每次样品分析对环境的影响。因此，我们建议将Waters Xevo TQ绝对仪器与Waters公司的UPC2超临界流体色谱（SFC）和Acquity Premier系统（具有二维液相色谱（2D-LC）功能）配对。这将为QUB的ASSET技术中心提供独特的尖端仪器，使其处于使用质谱法（生物）分析化学基本过渡的最前沿，以提高可持续性。这种专用的分析设备组合将是英国和国际上的第一个，我们相信它将成为公共和私人研究机构合作研究的焦点。反映QUB研究的广度和实力，该提案组建了一个调查团队，将利用该提案在研究中增加的分析能力，这些研究已经获得了BBSRC的大量资金（Cameron， Huws和Elliott），并符合BBSRC的战略重点，包括动物健康（Huws， Hyland和Elliott），抗AMR (Huws, Hyland， McGrath和Gilpin)，数据驱动生物学(Cameron, Huws, Hyland, Elliott, Connelly，《食品、营养与健康》（卡梅隆、艾略特、康奈利和格林）、《健康老龄化》（绿色）、《微生物组综合研究》（卡梅隆、休斯、海兰、麦格拉斯、吉尔平）、《减少食物链浪费》（休斯、海兰和艾略特）、《为公共政策提供信息的研究》（卡梅隆、休斯、海兰、艾略特、康奈利、麦格拉斯和吉尔平）、《可持续加强农业》（休斯、海兰和艾略特）、《系统方法》（卡梅隆、康奈利、吉尔平和格林）、管理动物福利（Huws， Hyland和Elliott）。

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).