Posters & Presentations

Exploration of New Low-Pressure GC Columns for Food and Environment Emerging Contaminants

05 Nov 2025

The Low-Pressure GC (LPGC technique) has been successfully used in the past for pesticide residues’ analysis. However, the technique is very versatile, and it allows for other applications, especially if different column phases are used. So far, the majority of the applications have been using the “5”-type phase (95% dimethylpolysiloxane, 5% diphenyl polymer). To expand on the previous applications, four additional column phases were selected (cyanopropylphenyl dimethylpolysiloxane; 50% dimethylsiloxane, 50% diphenyl; 65% dimethylsiloxane, 35% diphenyl; and trifluoropropylmethyl polysiloxane phases) to analyze various food and environmental contaminants, such as nitrosamines, alkylfurans, phthalates, arylamines and fluorotelomer alcohols. The LPGC techniques provided significant reduction in run times (up to 3.3x faster runs) and helium consumption reduction (up to 81% less helium used), while keeping an acceptable resolution.

Authors

  • Jana Hepner, PhD
  • Whitney Dudek-Salisbury

    Whitney is a Senior Product Manager for gas chromatography (GC) columns at Restek, where she oversees the company’s GC column portfolio, including fused Silica, MXT, PLOT, and packed columns. Whitney has over seven years of experience in process engineering, with a deep technical expertise in the development of manufacturing processes for GC columns and accessories. Since transitioning to product management, Whitney has focused on the energy and chemical market, becoming a member of ASTM D02 and D16 subcommittees. Whitney holds both a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science in chemistry from Bucknell University.

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  • Chris English

    Since 2004, Chris has managed a team of chemists in Restek's innovations laboratory who perform new product testing, method development, and applications work. Before taking the reins of our lab, he spent seven years as an environmental chemist and was critical to the development of Restek’s current line of volatile GC columns. Prior to joining Restek, he operated a variety of gas chromatographic detectors conducting method development and sample analysis. Chris holds a BS in environmental science from Saint Michael's College.

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  • Jessi Collier

    Jessi is an advanced scientist in the GC applications group where her work focuses on environmental and food contaminants. Prior to joining Restek in 2023, she worked for the Mississippi State Chemical Lab as a pesticide residue analyst, primarily testing regulatory samples, agricultural samples, environmental samples, foods, and other consumer products via GC-MS, GC-MS/MS, GC-FID, and GC-ECD. Jessi holds a BS in chemistry and a BA in Mandarin Chinese from Mississippi State University.

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