Shisha tobacco is a moist tobacco mix that is smoked in a type of waterpipe known as “hookah” or “shisha.” It is made by fermenting tobacco with molasses, glycerine and fruit essence, producing a tough, pliable mixture challenging to analyze for flavor compounds.
Thoroughly determining the VOCs and semi-VOCs in the final product is vital for ensuring quality control, batch consistency and successful product development studies.

Highlights

To ensure a sustainable material cycle, used plastic materials undergo a recycling process. These recyclate pellets are often made of used containers, and odor emissions occur repeatedly during the recycling process, making the re-use of the plastic difficult, if not impossible.
Two solvent-free analysis techniques are used to determine the composition of such odors and thus to trace the source. These are thermal desorption with prior air sampling and direct thermal extraction of the plastic.

Highlights

The Maillard reaction plays a crucial role in shaping the appearance, aroma, and taste of cooked meat, with the first two factors driving initial appeal. Therefore, effectively managing the Maillard reaction is essential for gaining deeper analytical insights that support food research and development. This study aims to demonstrate the automation of handling chilled meat samples and cooking them prior to analyte extraction with dynamic headspace and chromatographic analysis.

Disc golf, otherwise known as frisbee golf, has become increasingly popular in the past few years. Invented in the 1960’s, it has grown to over 7000 courses in the United States and is played in over 40 countries worldwide. It is played in a manner similar to conventional golf. A disc is thrown from a tee pad at a target. The target is a metal pole in the ground with a cylindrical basket and chains. The chains are present to deflect the disc into the basket.

Extractable and leachable (E&L) studies are routinely conducted for products such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and packaging for these types of products. The aim of these studies is to make sure that nothing is emitted from the product that can be harmful to the consumer. Harmful compounds can be from the product itself, residuals from manufacturing or from the packaging used for the product.
This document discusses a study using direct thermal extraction to determine leachables from a plastic bottle containing a saline enema solution. Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) was used to quantify the compound of interest in the saline solution.

Off odors in finished whiskey, such as 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) and geosmin, which impart a musty/earthy odor, can significantly impact its sensory quality, even at trace levels. Various extraction techniques paired with gas  Chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) can provide a highly sensitive analysis. However, insufficient GC resolution prevents reliable determination of MIB and geosmin because the target ions are not unique to these compounds. A Selectable 1D/2D-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (1D/2D-GC-MS) instrument provides an effective way of improving the separation and reliability of the analysis.

Rubber is one of the most ubiquitous materials that each of us come into contact with every day. It is used in footwear, tires, sporting goods, on athletic fields, automobiles and in a myriad of other products. Many types of rubber are used in these products such as natural, styrene-butadiene, nitrile, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and other polymeric materials.
Pyrolysis GC-MS is a useful tool for identifying polymers. In this study, the GERSTEL pyrolysis system, in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, was used for the analysis of products containing different types of rubber.

Integrated circuit (IC) boards are ubiquitous in many of the products we utilize on a daily basis. The boards contain chips, resistors, capacitors, diodes, and other devices which make up the circuitry. These devices generate heat, and the materials used to construct the IC boards must withstand high temperatures. Some of the materials contain additives for fire prevention or have fire-retardant compounds incorporated into the polymer backbone.

N-nitrosamines, a class of compounds commonly found in foods and beverages, have long been a health concern due to their carcinogenic risks [1]. These compounds are typically formed during food preparation and processing through the reaction of amines with nitrosating compounds. The conventional method of extracting N-nitrosamines utilizes a liquid-liquid extraction with harmful solvents like methylene chloride, a practice that is about to face a significant challenge with the impending EPA ban [2]. This study demonstrates a safer and more efficient solventless extraction approach. Dynamic headspace (DHS) was used to extract N-nitrosamines from a diverse range of sample types.

In forensic investigations, analyzing ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) obtained from crime scenes is critical for establishing whether a fire was deliberately set and potentially identifying a perpetrator. Traditional methods for extracting ILRs from fire debris, such as solvent, static headspace, and solid phase microextraction (SPME) extractions, often have significant drawbacks. These methods can destroy the sample, involve lengthy manual procedures, require harmful solvents, and have long incubation times.