María Jesús Lerma-García’s research while affiliated with University of Valencia and other places

Seafood is both nutritionally and economically significant, with bivalve molluscs being particularly valuable for monitoring environmental pollutants due to their filter-feeding nature and ability to bioaccumulate pollutants. While not often linked to food poisoning, these molluscs can occasionally introduce health risks, highlighting the need for vigilant monitoring. This review provides a thorough analysis of pollutants—including persistent and emerging pollutants, as well as marine toxins—found in bivalve molluscs between 2019 and 2024. Among the studied pollutants, plasticizers and alkaloids are the most frequently analyzed, with liquid and gas chromatography (GC) tandem mass spectrometry (MS) the predominant methods, although novel approaches to determine these compounds, such as sensors, have also emerged in recent years. However, many studies are focused on establishing pollutant content without addressing bioaccumulation (BA) factors, and a lack of standardization in species and sampling locations complicates comparisons between the different published works. Despite some studies linking human activity and algal blooms to BA dynamics, more comprehensive research is needed. Additionally, limited data on the depuration capacity of molluscs underscores the need for further investigation. Although pollutant levels generally remain within legal limits, many substances remain unregulated. Environmental factors also play a critical role in influencing BA, emphasizing the need for future studies to focus on BA factors to better understand these complex dynamics.

A protocol to determine tocopherols from vegetable oils by capillary electrochromatography (CEC) using home-made methacrylate monolithic columns has been described in this chapter. First, the preparation of a lauryl methacrylate ester-based monolithic column by thermal initiation is detailed. Using this column, tocopherols extracted from vegetable oils were separated by CEC within 12 min, being their quantitation possible by linear regression. Finally, the developed method could be applied to the detection of olive oil adulteration with low-cost edible oils.

In the last few years, aptamer-functionalized materials have been used as promising affinity sorbents for sample preparation purposes. These selective materials have attracted much attention due to their excellent molecular recognition properties, high stability, and the possibility of incorporation onto the surface of different supporting materials, such as nanoparticles, polymers, etc. On the other hand, current trends in extraction techniques encompass the use of miniaturized devices integrated with advanced affinity-based sorbents. Within these sample preparation devices, magnetic nanoparticles have become excellent candidates for the preparation of new functional nanomaterials for the solid-phase extraction processes. In addition to this approach, magnetic elements can be integrated in extraction devices (e.g., stir bars, stir cakes, etc.) to provide efficient extraction/stirring integrated techniques able to simplify the extraction and improve the performance. This review gives an overview of the literature published regarding aptamer-based sorbents using as host supports magnetic nanoparticles and integrated stirred units. For this purpose, the most relevant developments and applications achieved in the last seven years (from 2017 to 2023) in sample preparation by the integration of these affinity-based materials in extraction techniques such as magnetic solid-phase extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction will be reviewed.