Exhaled breath analysis for the determination of food contaminants
Exhaled breath analysis for the determination of food contaminants
Adrian Vicent Claramunt, Evaldas Naujalis
Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Lithuania
Poster PDF
Abstract:
A wide range of volatile organic compounds have been indentified in human expelled breath. Furfuryl alcohol, Methyl Furan and Pyridine are, among many other compounds, food contaminants produced mainly in thermally processed food such as coffee, juices, alcoholic beverages or baked food. Those compounds, which are considered toxic and potential carcinogenic, are not found in healthy humans but can be found in high concentration in breath after consumption of coffee. Breath samples from volunteers were collected after the consumption of coffee in order to determine the concentration of toxic compounds present in it. Samples were collected using self-designed LDPE plastics bags. Calibration of pyridine and furfuryl alcohol was also obtained filling the bags with the standard solutions. All the samples were analysed using Thermal Desorption coupled to Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (TD/GC-MS). High concentrations of contaminants were identified even after an hour after coffee consumption. Collection of breath for potential volatile compounds analysis as biomarkers has been a very useful as a non-invasive disease diagnosis tool and could have a use for the detection of food contaminants.
Comments
Interesting work! Did you address any other food/beverage consumption impact on breath VOCs?
Thank you!
Thank you Milena! We are actually focusing mostly in coffee, as the impact in VOCs was quite intense we want to try to identify possible high toxicity after coffee consumption in big amounts. But it would be interesting to check in other baked or toasted products like bread or beer.
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