Comparing Suspect and Nontargeted Screening Workflows for Perinatal Chemical Exposome Analysis: A European Interlaboratory Study from the PARC-EU Project
Abstract Early-life chemical exposures may contribute to adverse health outcomes later in life. However, conventional chemical analyses typically cover only a limited subset of the chemical exposureome. Suspect and nontargeted screening (SS/NTS) using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) workflows provides a powerful framework for comprehensive assessments of exposure, with the potential to detect a broad range of environmental contaminants and emerging chemicals. An interlaboratory assay involving 12 laboratories was performed to evaluate the comparability and complementarity of SS/NTS approaches for maternal urine, serum, and milk, based on reversed-phase (RPLC), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC), and gas chromatography (GC) with HRMS. Participants used in-house methods to possibly detect a predefined and shared list of 50 compounds with varying polarities spiked at three concentrations. The overall detection rates ranged from 4% to 72% for all three techniques, with RPLC-HRMS covering compounds with log P 0–6, while HILIC-HRMS and GC-HRMS extended this coverage. Univariate and multivariable analyses of RPLC-HRMS results for serum and urine identified sample preparation steps as key factors influencing detection rates. Workflow performances were additionally benchmarked by using the S-score. These findings demonstrate the complementarity of SS/NTS platforms for extending chemical-space coverage for the most comprehensive exposure characterization. Therefore, efforts should be made for harmonized QA/QC provisions while conserving the added value of different workflows for exposure data for risk assessments.
Authors
- Tarek Moufawad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2684-9868)
- Michel Laurentie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3677-5401)
- Rosalie Nijssen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7200-9210)
- Mariana F. Fernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6417-8914)
- Baninia Habchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9705-167X)
- Tina Kosjek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6421-0344)
- Katrin Vorkamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1131-5687)
- Arthur David (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8189-1826)
- Benedikt Warth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6104-0706)
- Adrian Covaci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0527-1136)
- Helena Plešnik
- Aikaterini Termentzi
- Serena Rizzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5995-7339)
- Martin Krauß (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0362-4244)
- Herbert Oberacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0963-8268)
- Eirini Baira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4058-4031)
- Clément Chalet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7638-8564)
- Elena Salamanca‐Fernández (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1795-2206)
- Lidia Belova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7147-384X)
- Carolin Huber
- Jean‐Philippe Antignac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9512-9314)
- Jade Chaker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3680-4786)
- Annelaure Damont (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4075-5187)
- Linyan Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2036-1447)
- Konstantinos M. Kasiotis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6631-0667)
- Sophie Ndaw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7518-2465)
- Gaëlle Jadé
- Žan Rekar
- Marja Lamoree
- Christian Baudry
- Kolawole Ayeni
- Bruno Le Bizec
Institutions
- University of Vienna (AT)
- Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (MA)
- Exponent (United States) (US)
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- Innsbruck Medical University (AT)
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- École nationale d'ingénieurs de Brest (FR)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Jožef Stefan Institute (SI)
- Université Rennes 2 (FR)
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (ES)
- Benaki Phytopathological Institute (GR)
- Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail (FR)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (ES)
- Oniris (FR)
- Université de Rennes (FR)
- Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (FR)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Published
- 2026-09-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6c04347
- Primary Topic
- Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00