# Miniaturized-LC in the Analysis of Emerging Organic Contaminants in Food and Environmental Samples: Recent Advances and Applications

## TL;DR

Miniaturized liquid chromatography systems are being used to detect harmful organic contaminants in food and the environment with high sensitivity and eco-friendly methods.

## Contribution

This paper reviews recent advances in using miniaturized-LC for detecting emerging organic contaminants with enhanced analytical performance.

## Key findings

- Mini-LC systems reduce solvent use and improve separation efficiency for contaminant detection.
- Combining mini-LC with mass spectrometry enables trace-level detection of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and mycotoxins.
- Current challenges include matrix effects and instrument stability, but Mini-LC is promising for green analytical monitoring.

## Abstract

Mini-LC systems, including Cap-LC, Nano-LC and Chip-LC, offer a sustainable alternative to conventional LC methods thanks to their reduced solvent consumption, enhanced separation efficiency and environmentally friendly operation. Integrating micro-scale sample preparation techniques, such as µ-SPE, IT-SPME, LPME and QuEChERS, with Mini-LC significantly improving analytical sensitivity and selectivity. Mini-LC coupled with mass spectrometry has demonstrated excellent performance in the detection of trace levels of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, veterinary drug residues, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and mycotoxins. Despite current challenges relating to matrix effects, instrument stability and method standardization, Mini-LC represents a promising analytical platform for the cost-effective, high-sensitivity, green monitoring of contaminants in food safety and environmental analysis. This review summarizes recent advances in the application of Mini-LC techniques for analyzing emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in food and environmental samples. This paper also provides a critical review of this topic, covering works published in the last four years (early 2022–mid 2025). Additionally, it discusses the use of these techniques in combination with mass spectrometry (e.g., low-resolution MS or high-resolution MS) for the detection of EOCs in food and environmental samples.