ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY Expanded capabilities for handheld XRF analyser
SPECTRO Analytical Instruments has expanded the capabilities of its SPECTRO xSORT handheld XRF analyser, designed for rapid, on-site elemental analysis, to support a broader range of applications, including geology, mining, environmental screening, and compliance testing.
The new application packages, which enable these expanded capabilities, are available immediately.
In geology and mining, operations require fast and reliable analysis of ores, concentrates, and tailings, often involving a wide range of elements and concentration levels. The SPECTRO xSORT provides rapid, accurate measurements across diverse sample types, even in remote or challenging fi eld conditions.
For environmental applications, the SPECTRO xSORT enables quick, on-site analysis of soil, sediment, waste, and other materials to detect heavy metals and toxic elements, supporting effi cient clearance and remediation decisions.
In the area of compliance, national and international regulations are increasingly limiting hazardous substances in consumer goods and industrial products. With coverage of elements ranging from magnesium (Mg) to uranium (U), the SPECTRO
xSORT serves as an ideal screening tool for verifying adherence to environmental and product safety standards.
The redesigned SPECTRO xSORT handheld XRF is now more compact and better balanced than previous models, making it ideal for extended, fatigue-free, one-handed use. Ergonomic enhancements include a light-squeeze trigger, a large 5-inch high-defi nition display with a wide viewing angle, and extra physical buttons optimized for gloved hands, ensuring all-day comfort and ease of use.
The analyser can be paired with a portable sample chamber or mounted in its docking station for added convenience. Both allow operation from an external PC. When connected to the powerful XRF Analyser Pro software, users can access features that allow an unprecedented expansion of analytical capabilities, bringing the power of full-fl edged benchtop analysis to the handheld world. The combination offers several advantages, including comprehensive data storage, customizable output and export, qualitative analysis, full post-processing, and user calibration.
The SPECTRO xSORT handheld XRF analyser is renowned for its advanced analytical performance and user-friendly design. It delivers maximum fl exibility with factory-installed methods that
cover a wide range of elements and matrices, enabling users to switch between samples without altering the methods. Experienced users can also perform on-site calibration using a PC for uncommon elements or specialized applications.
AMECARE Performance Services maximises uptime, optimises performance, and extends the equipment life of all SPECTRO elemental analysers with high-value, customised support from a network of hundreds of experienced service engineers in 50 countries.
The new application packages for the SPECTRO xSORT handheld ED-XRF spectrometers are available immediately from SPECTRO Analytical Instruments.
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IS THERE AN INCREASING NEED FOR MONITORING ARSENIC IN RICE? TALKINGPOINT
In a surprising turn of events, our changing climate is having a detrimental impact on food safety, making increased monitoring essential.
As the impacts of climate change deepen across global systems, food safety is emerging as a major, underappreciated front.
Among the latest concerns is rice, a staple food for more than half the world’s population, becoming increasingly toxic due to higher levels of inorganic arsenic.
For monitoring professionals, this trend points to a growing need for expanded environmental, agricultural, and food testing capabilities, with particular focus on high-precision arsenic detection.
How do we know that arsenic in rice is increasing?
Recent research published in The Lancet Planetary Health shows that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and warmer temperatures signifi cantly increase the amount of inorganic arsenic absorbed by rice plants.
In controlled experiments across China over nearly a decade, scientists found that arsenic concentrations in rice grains could rise by up to 44% under climate scenarios likely by 2050.
Given rice’s global importance as a staple crop, the public health implications are profound, including millions of additional cancer cases worldwide if left unaddressed.
The root of the problem lies in how rice is traditionally cultivated.
Paddy fi elds, fl ooded to suppress weeds, create anaerobic soil conditions that naturally mobilize arsenic compounds.
Under higher temperatures and with more carbon in the soil, microbial activity accelerates, making arsenic more bioavailable to rice plants.
This situation could worsen dramatically unless new practices and technologies are adopted.
How monitoring will have to change
Monitoring the growing risk will require a much more integrated and proactive approach than is typical today.
Traditional food safety testing of fi nal rice products, while still essential, will not be enough.
Monitoring must begin at the fi eld level. Soil arsenic speciation, irrigation water quality, soil oxygen levels, and real- time plant uptake all need to be systematically tracked.
Instruments capable of detecting trace levels of arsenic will play a pivotal role.
Inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP- MS) remains the most sensitive and accurate method for analysing both food and environmental samples, including rice grains and soil extracts.
To specifi cally identify the chemical form of arsenic, critical for assessing health risks, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with ICP-MS will become increasingly necessary.
On-site and near-real-time monitoring are also likely to expand. Portable X-ray fl uorescence (pXRF) analysers, while somewhat limited in sensitivity for food products, can be valuable for rapid screening of soils in the fi eld.
Water quality sensors adapted to detect arsenic in irrigation sources, along with automated soil gas analysers monitoring redox conditions, can provide early warning signals when paddy conditions start to favour arsenic mobilization.
Monitoring professionals will also need to become more adept at linking datasets.
Combining arsenic monitoring with greenhouse gas measurements in rice paddies could offer a broader picture, since the same anaerobic conditions that drive arsenic uptake also accelerate methane emissions.
Rice paddy in Laos. CC BY-SA 4.0: Basile Morin Will regulation tighten?
Looking ahead, regulatory bodies are likely to impose tighter controls on arsenic levels in rice, both at the point of production and at the consumer end.
While the European Union and China have begun to set stricter thresholds, global standards are patchy and enforcement inconsistent.
Improved monitoring networks, based on robust, transparent data, will be critical to ensure compliance and to protect vulnerable populations who rely heavily on rice for daily nutrition.
Rice will remain a critical food source for billions, and widespread shifts in dietary patterns are unlikely.
The challenge is to intervene early and intelligently, using monitoring technologies and best practices to limit arsenic exposure before it becomes an even greater public health crisis.
As climate change reshapes the chemistry of agriculture, monitoring professionals will be tasked not only with measuring emerging risks but also with helping design the solutions that keep food safe in a warming world.
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28 | AET MAY 2025 |
ENVIROTECH-ONLINE.COM
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