Agilent has released the Agilent G6855 Masshunter Forensic and Toxicology Database, which lets users identify more than 7,500 compounds, based on liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) data.
The database contains accurate-mass data for compounds of interest to forensic and toxicology investigators, gathered from laboratories around the world.
It includes software for searching, editing and creating customisable content.
It also features a ranking and scoring algorithm that assigns a confidence level for each match.
The database accommodates the addition of LC retention times, which, combined with accurate mass results, increases confidence when confirming compound identity.
Time-of-Flight MS Emerges single (Q) and triple quadrupole (QQQ) mass spectrometers are used in forensics and toxicology labs to screen blood, urine and other bodily fluids.
The TOF-MS and quadruple time-of-flight (QTOF) MS systems are especially useful for analysing more complex samples and screening larger numbers of compounds or unknown compounds.
TOF-based systems can identify many targets without the need for specific instrument or analyte optimisation.
The detection limit and data quality remain constant for any given compound, even as the number of targets in the method or sample increases.
The sensitivity of TOF instruments has been increased: for example, the Agilent 6230 Accurate Mass TOF LC/MS can detect and identify compounds in amounts smaller than two trillionths of a gram (two picograms).
The instrument delivers sub-1-ppm mass accuracy.
Mass resolution is also enhanced with up to 20,000 resolving power at fastest spectral acquisition rates of up to 40 mass spectra per second, accommodating the latest high-throughput rapid-resolution uHPLC liquid chromatography platforms.
TOF and QTOF instruments also require small amounts of sample.
A single analysis captures a complete and comprehensive profile of each sample.
This means the data can be interrogated at any time in the future for additional targets of interest, without the need to reanalyse the sample - this is of particular importance when only a limited amount of sample is available.
Agilent also offers an accurate-mass database for pesticides and plans to develop additional accurate-mass databases for other analysis sectors.
