Method development and analytical challenges for the quantitation of complex industrial chemicals in support of environmental fate and ecotoxicology studies

SETAC Europe 2025 -- There are numerous challenges associated with the analysis of industrial chemicals. Many simple chemical substances do not have a UV chromophore, meaning co-chromatography of degradation products with references is not possible. Mass spectrometric identification/quantitation may not be an option where ionisation is difficult or for low molecular weight chemicals. Many products are mixtures or of unknown or variable composition, complex reaction products or biological materials (UVCBs). It is generally not feasible to radiolabel UVCBs or to differentiate degradation products from constituents already present in the mixture. To avoid these issues, a single target molecule may be identified for investigation. If radiosynthesis is not feasible, there are options for conducting the studies with non-radiolabeled test items, but not all regulatory objectives may be met. Labcorp has significant experience in the analysis of complex chemicals, continually developing and evolving our techniques to meet the numerous challenges these materials present.