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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Characterization and Interventions for Foodborne Pathogens » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #376634
Research Project: Advanced Development of Innovative Technologies and Systematic Approaches to Foodborne Hazard Detection and Characterization for Improving Food Safety

Location: Characterization and Interventions for Foodborne Pathogens

Title: A portable spark-induced breakdown spectroscopic (SIBS) instrument and its analytical performance

Author
item DOH, IYLL-JOON - Purdue University
item GONDHALEKAR, CARMEN - Purdue University
item PATSEKIN, VALERY - Purdue University
item RAJWA, BARTEK - Purdue University
item HERNANDEZ, KEEGAN - Purdue University
item BAE, EUIWON - Purdue University
item ROBINSON, J - Purdue University

Submitted to: Applied Spectroscopy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/19/2019
Publication Date: 5/20/2019
Citation: Doh, I., Gondhalekar, C., Patsekin, V., Rajwa, B., Hernandez, K., Bae, E., Robinson, J.P. 2019. A portable spark-induced breakdown spectroscopic (SIBS) instrument and its analytical performance. Applied Spectroscopy. 73(6):698-708. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003702819844792.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0003702819844792

Interpretive Summary: Biological, chemical, and/or physical contamination of food can result in unsafe products for people to eat. Determining the chemical composition of a food sample helps identify the source of food production or processing problems. This study describes the development of a portable system with a footprint the size of a sheet of letter paper that allows the accurate determination of the composition of a food sample at the level of chemical elements. This system will eventually help the field inspectors and food safety engineers in government agencies and industry organizations to provide on-site contamination detection and food authentication ability without requiring the shipping of samples to central laboratories.

Technical Abstract: A compact spark-induced plasma spectroscopic device was developed to detect elements used in a variety of applications. The system consists of a spark generator connected to tungsten electrodes, a custom-built delay generator, and two spectrometers that together cover the ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) range (214-631 nm). The system was evaluated by qualitatively and quantitatively sampling copper standards. Prominent spectral peaks were identified using the NIST database for atomic emissions. The effectiveness of the proposed system was also tested with a lanthanide sample (gadolinium) and provided qualitative identification of the characteristic peaks. A semi-quantitative measurement for silicon and gold was performed using variable amounts of each particulate. Silica microbeads in solution were applied to paper wafers, while gold nanoparticles were sputter-coated onto silicon wafers. Results showed a positive correlation between the intensity of the signal and the concentration of each type of particulate. The variation of signal intensity was investigated to determine the repeatability, and the coefficient of variation was lowered from 60% to 25% after averaging measurements of multiple ablations per observation.