The Mass Spectrometry Laboratory integrates molecular, elemental and isotopic analysis techniques to investigate food, environmental matrices and tissues. Its equipment includes:

• ICP-HRMS Thermo Scientific Element: a double-focusing mass analyser using magnetic and electrostatic sectors to determine trace and ultra-trace elements, resolve spectral interferences and measure isotope ratios.
• UHPLC-HRMS Thermo Scientific Q Exactive Plus/Vanquish: a hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap system with resolving power up to 280.000 (FWHM, m/z 200) and HCD fragmentation, for compound identification and quantification, metabolomics and proteomics.
• UHPLC-MS/MS SCIEX QTRAP 6500+/ExionLC AD: a triple quadrupole system with linear ion trap functionality, ESI/APCI sources and UHPLC operating at pressures up to 1.300 bar. It combines sensitive and selective quantification in MRM mode with structural confirmation analysis.
• GC-EA-IRMS Thermo Scientific DELTA V: measures stable isotope ratios of C, H, O, N and S using elemental analysers; coupling with GC IsoLink enables compound-specific isotope analysis. The ConFlo IV interface integrates the systems, supporting authenticity and traceability studies.
• PYR-GC-MS Frontier Laboratories–Agilent: a pyrolyser coupled to an 8860 GC and a 5977C single quadrupole GC/MSD. Controlled thermal decomposition enables the characterisation of polymeric materials and the identification and quantification of microplastics through characteristic pyrolysis products.

Francesco Romaniello