
Pressure for Food Analysis?
Atmospheric Pressure Gas Chromatography reduces extensive fragmentation, enhancing sensitivity and selectivity for multi-residue analysis in food
Frank Dorman | 2 min read
sponsored by Waters
Gas and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS and LC-MS) play a vital role in pesticide residue analysis across various sample matrices. However, traditional electron ionization in GC-MS often results in extensive fragmentation, leading to the absence of molecular ions and larger-mass fragments which can negatively affect determination of certain pesticides. A more competitive commercial landscape – and the resulting need for increased productivity – are driving laboratories to constantly seek solutions to address these challenges.
Waters offers an alternative approach to GC- and LC-MS, known as Atmospheric Pressure Gas Chromatography (APGC™), which enhances molecular, and larger-mass, ions while significantly decreasing extensive fragmentation. The result? Enhanced sensitivity and selectivity.

APGC technology can be used for various applications, including dioxins, furans, dioxin-like compounds (such as PCB’s and PCN’s), as well as pesticides. Compared with magnetic sector instruments, APGC-MS/MS offers a more user- and budget-friendly technology, making dioxin analysis more accessible to testing laboratories across the world – and, therefore, helping secure global and environmental food safety (
As its name suggests, APGC operates at atmospheric pressure, much like an APCI source that may be utilized in LC-MS analyses. It is also important to note that APGC relies on a soft ionization process to provide abundant molecular ions, which can serve as precursor ions in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) experiments for multi-residue GC-MS/MS analysis.
“This is one of my favorite instruments. It’s highly sensitive and selective due to the soft ionization with APGC,” says Xinhui Xia, Senior Instrument Chemist at SGS AXYS, Canada (
When APGC is coupled with the Xevo™ TQ-XS, the system is the most sensitive GC-MS/MS system commercially available, allowing the most difficult regulations to be met with ease. Indeed, the extremely high sensitivity of APGC technology coupled with the Xevo TQ-XS enables reliable detection of 166 tested analytes at concentrations as low as 0.5 μg/kg, which exceeds required detection limits, thus making it suitable for routine food testing laboratories (
APGC represents a valuable tool in food analysis, providing enhanced sensitivity, selectivity, and compatibility with both GC and LC compounds. As technology continues to evolve, APGC looks set to drive progress in multi-residue analysis, improving food safety.
Discover the power APGC has to offer in our whitepaper: Enhancing Selectivity and Sensitivity for Pesticide Residue Testing by GC-MS/MS Using APGC Technology.
- Waters Corporation, “SGS AXYS and Waters Validate APGC as New Methodology for Dioxin and Environmental Contaminants Analysis” (2020). Available at: https://bit.ly/45Vh4xO.
- Waters Corporation, “Dioxins and Furans” (2021). Available at: https://bit.ly/3zA9Pza.
- Waters Corporation, “Enhancing selectivity and sensitivity for pesticide residue testing by GC-MS/MS using APGC technology” (2023). Available at: https://bit.ly/45YsLUr.
Frank Dorman is Senior Principal Market Development Manager, Global Food & Environmental, Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, USA