bp4nta NORMAN, a peer organization of BP4NTA with many colleagues from Europe, has recently published a guidance document on suspect and non-target screening in environmental monitoring. The article is open access and available here. BP4NTA content is cited in several places – notably for reporting recomendations!
Congrats to our NORMAN friends on their substantial publication! It looks like an excellent resource for folks interested in NTA.
A team of eighteen BP4NTA members, led by Gabby Black (USGS) and Charlie Lowe (USEPA), recently published a Trends article titled “Exploring chemical space in non-targeted analysis: a proposed ChemSpace tool”. This publication outlines a proposed tool that would utilize various chemometric models to define the chemical space coverage of a nontargeted analysis research project. While the tool itself is still under development, the authors outline the various aspects of sampling, sample processing, data acquisition, and data analysis that influence the types of compounds that are extractable, detectable, and identifiable based on NTA workflows. Furthermore, the authors encourage researchers to begin thinking of chemical space and utilize existing tools to help better understand NTA results. For example, is a compound not identified because it is not present in the sample, or is the extraction method or acquisition mode unable to identify it? The ChemSpaceTool strives to not only provide context for results, but also improve performance and decrease method development time. The article is available here!
BP4NTA members Alli Phillips, Jon Sobus, Antony Williams, Kelsey Miller and Kathy Peter teamed up with Research Square to create an informational video about the NTA Study Reporting Tool (SRT). The SRT is a downloadable & fillable framework designed to facilitate standardized reporting and review of NTA methods and results. The 3-minute SRT informational video provides:
The SRT itself can be accessed at www.nontargetedanalysis.org/SRT.
BP4NTA has really ramped up this year, and we have fallen behind on announcements. See below for several exciting updates to wrap up 2021!
A new BP4NTA publication is out in Analytical Chemistry! This publication introduces the working group and its purpose and features our web content including the reference content, glossary, and Study Reporting Tool. This manuscript is a great way to get the word out about BP4NTA, and can be cited when our online materials are used a references for publications.
An Introduction to the Benchmarking and Publications for Non-Targeted Analysis Working Group
Benjamin J. Place*, Elin M. Ulrich, Jonathan K. Challis, Alex Chao, Bowen Du, Kristin Favela, Yong-Lai Feng, Christine M. Fisher, Piero Gardinali, Alan Hood, Ann M. Knolhoff, Andrew D. McEachran, Sara L. Nason, Seth R. Newton, Brian Ng, Jamie Nuñez, Katherine T. Peter, Allison L. Phillips, Natalia Quinete, Ryan Renslow, Jon R. Sobus, Eric M. Sussman, Benedikt Warth, Samanthi Wickramasekara, Antony J. Williams
Analytical Chemistry 2021, 93:49, 1628-16296 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02660
Several BP4NTA members have a new manuscript out in Environment International on quantitative non-targeted analysis. Be sure to check it out!
BP4NTA has a new subcommittee focused on developing materials for stakeholders who are not NTA practitioners but are interested in using NTA data in their work or understanding how NTA data is useful in their field. We are actively developing videos and fact sheets designed for outreach to various stakeholder groups, and are actively looking for more committee members and community collaborators. Reach out to Yong-lai Feng (yong-lai.feng@canada.ca) if you are interested in helping out!
Calling all emerging contaminant research! The next EMCON event will be held virtually on September 13-14, 2021, where you can hear the latest research news and discoveries about many emerging environmental contaminants and their management. At EMCON, you can virtually reconnect with old colleagues and meet new friends from around the world while discussing exciting research and ideas.
EMCON 2021 will cover all aspects of emerging contaminant research while emphasizing research on microplastics, biomolecules, roadway runoff, transformation products, ecotoxicology, advanced mass spectrometry and other new analytical techniques, and new emerging contaminants as conference themes. These topics will be covered over two days of sessions, including scientific talks, posters, lightning talks, and informal meetups, with pre-recorded content allowing both synchronous and asynchronous attendance and interaction. Abstracts are due June 16th and early bird registration opens July 1! Find more details at: https://cvent.me/7kvWG9. You can email Ed Kolodziej and the EmCon Scientific Committee at emcon2021@uw.edu to submit your abstract, or with any questions.
The BP4NTA working group has been hard at work! We plan to have online versions of our checklist and glossary available in early 2021.
Last week, BP4NTA was at SETAC SciCon2 virtual conference! We sponsored two sessions, with posters and presentations available online:
and hosted a live discussion on Non-Targeted Analysis!
Additionally, we had a poster specifically focused on BP4NTA efforts in Session 4.13: Late-Breaking: Chemistry and Exposure assessment (presentation 4.13.13 with lead presenter Sara Nason). Check it out for a sneak peak at our NTA evaluation checklist!
Posters, presentations, and a recording of the live event will be available to conference attendees until March 1, 2021, so be sure to check out anything you missed.
Reminder: there is an upcoming special issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry that will focus on NTA! It will be guest edited by BP4NTA member Natalia Quinete and feature some fantastic research! Submissions will be accepted until March 1, 2021. Download this pdf file for all the details.
BP4NTA stands for Benchmarking and Publications for Non-Targeted Analysis and we are a working group focused on addressing challenges in non-targeted analysis (NTA) studies.
NTA uses high resolution mass spectrometry to identify chemicals in samples without requiring the use of standards. NTA is an incredibly powerful analytical technique, and is increasingly used in many fields of research including environmental contamination, chemical exposures, and food safety.
However, foundational knowledge gaps persist; there is not yet a standardized vocabulary for discussing non-targeted work, nor a cohesive set of expectations for reporting research methods and quality control measures.
BP4NTA is in the process of developing a suite of resources that define key terms, provide reporting recommendations, and highlight scientific best practices for NTA studies, and we have created this website as a place to share information and outputs with the broader scientific community. If you look around, you will see the website currently includes lists of NTA resources (online databases, software programs, etc. and event where NTA research will be featured, as well as information about the history and membership of our working group.
When complete, the website will be focused around what we are currently referring to as the NTA Checklist. The checklist (currently in draft form) will be formatted as a table, and is organized based on the chronology of an NTA study.
Each section details key information that should be reported by NTA studies to ensure quality control, accuracy, and reproducibility. There will be a printer friendly, downloadable version of the checklist for convenient use by researchers, reviewers, and editors, and also a web version where each checklist section will be linked to detailed information about study components, including relevant literature citations.
We are very excited about the progress currently being made on checklist development, and are looking forward to sharing it! We are also developing a Glossary of NTA-related terminology and are working to expand our lists of resources and events.
Additionally, we will use this blog space to post about new NTA publications, featured BP4NTA members, and updates to the resources on the BP4NTA website. Subscribe to our mailing list (see the bottom of the homepage) to receive email updates about our posts!
We are very excited to see how the website develops and how the NTA community continues to grow and thrive! Feel free to contact us with any thoughts, opinions, resources you would like posted on our page, or if you are interested in joining the BP4NTA working group!
Best,
Sara Nason, Ph.D. and Seth Newton, Ph.D., BP4NTA website co-chairs