Challenge 1. Fill gaps to assure data traceability and quality in food safety and environmental protection
Mechanisms and tools for quality assurance of the data must be addressed to be able to satisfy the requirements of analytical laboratories, regardless the fields of study. A main strategy to achieve this is the preparation of quality control materials (QCMs) and the organization of proficiency testing campaigns. These are important activities of the research group through the LRA-UB and Mat Control units that will be continued during this project. The preparation of different QCMs for the organization of proficiency testings will cover demands in environmental and food analytical activities according to the requests of Safety Nuclear Council (CSN), Asociación Española de Técnicos Cerealistas (AETC) and Agència de Residus de Catalunya (ARC), among others.
Decision makers need reliable analytical results for environmental protection and food safety and, for these purposes, availability of suitable standards and reference materials is of great importance. The experience of our group permits to adapt our methodology to emerging demands. In this regard, and due to the increase in algae consumption nowadays, activities will also be addressed to ensure a proper quantification of arsenic species (arsenosugars) in algae samples, for which there are still a lack of standards. Efforts will be devoted to the development of a methodology that allows obtaining, isolating and characterizing arsenosugars. To do this, a three-step approach is proposed: isolation of arsenosugars from aqueous extracts of algae by separation techniques on a preparative scale, characterization of arsenosugars by mass spectrometry and preparation of standards and a reference material of edible algae. The expected results obtained could allow advances in other scientific fields, such as environmental sciences, toxicology or food safety.
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