Environmental Exposomics

Technical Specifications

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Item	Details
Platform	AB Sciex QTRAP 6500+ / 7500+ dual platforms
Quantification	Absolute quantification against a 639-compound standards library; LOD down to 0.002 ng/mL
QC	Total ion chromatograms (TIC); RSD distribution in QCs and QC-sample correlations (generally > 0.99); internal standards and calibration curves applied throughout
Custom Analyses	Multivariate association of exposure levels with region / age / BMI / clinical indicators; intergroup comparison and population stratification
Mixture Joint Effects	WQS (weighted quantile sum regression) · BKMR (Bayesian kernel machine regression) · q-gcomp (quantile g-computation)

Analysis Workflow

ANALYSIS WORKFLOW

Data Preprocessing

Curation · comparison plan

Quality Control

TIC · RSD · QC correlation

Detection Statistics

Category statistics · clustering

Multivariate Stats

PCA / OPLS-DA modeling

Differential Screening

Volcano · Z-score

Distribution Analysis

Cluster heatmap · violin plots

Custom Association

Age / BMI / clinical indicators

Mixture Joint Effects

WQS / BKMR regression models

Analysis deliverables: full QC evaluation and statistical analyses delivered with the report, including the master quantification table, group-comparison plan, differential exposure list, association and joint-effect result tables, and all raw figure files.

Target List — 6 Categories, 639 Compounds

TARGET PANEL 2026

Category	Coverage	Representative Compounds
Pesticides	353	Chlorpyrifos, imidacloprid, atrazine, fipronil, spinosad A, etc.; 71 subcategories including 50 organophosphate insecticides, 28 triazole fungicides and 23 triazine herbicides
Human Pharmaceuticals	110	Ibuprofen, sildenafil, nifedipine, carbamazepine, oseltamivir, etc.; 21 subcategories including 14 β2-agonists, 12 hypoglycemics and 12 antihistamines
Industrial / Environmental Pollutants	97	PFOA, PFOS, bisphenol A, rhodamine B, etc.; 7 subcategories including 23 phthalates, 22 perfluorinated compounds and 21 phenolic pollutants
Human / Veterinary Drugs	35	Azithromycin, sulfamethoxazole, progesterone, albendazole, ractopamine, etc.; 9 subcategories including 6 sex hormones, 6 NSAIDs and 6 antibiotics
Veterinary Drugs	24	Fenbendazole, florfenicol, flumequine, nicarbazin, chloramphenicol, etc.; 10 subcategories including 7 anthelmintics, 4 quinolones and 3 anticoccidials
Lifestyle Exposants	20	Nicotine, DEET, sucralose, triclocarban, 2-ethylhexyl salicylate, etc.; 4 subcategories including 13 cosmetics and 5 food additives

Bioinformatics Analyses

BIOINFORMATIC MODULES

Module	Core Methods & Key Outputs
Data Preprocessing	Project data curation and exposure quantification matrix construction; group-comparison plan (single-group baseline / two-group comparison / multi-group stratification) — master quantification table
Quality Control	Total ion chromatograms (TIC); RSD distribution and QC-sample correlations (generally > 0.99); internal standards and calibration curves throughout — TIC plots, RSD distribution plots
Detection Statistics	Detection counts and rates by compound category; exposure clustering and concentration distribution — detection statistics tables, cluster plots, violin plots
Multivariate Stats	PCA for group separation and outlier inspection; OPLS-DA discriminant modeling with 200 permutation tests — score plots, permutation-test plots
Differential Exposure Screening	Fold change combined with p/q values to screen up- and down-regulated exposures — volcano plots, Z-score plots, differential exposure lists
Differential Exposure Analysis	Hierarchical clustering, boxplots, lollipop charts and Spearman correlation analysis — cluster heatmaps, boxplots, lollipop charts
Custom Association Analysis	Multivariate association of exposure with region / age / BMI / clinical indicators; population stratification — stratified violin plots, forest plots
Mixture Joint Effects	WQS regression; BKMR; quantile g-computation — WQS weight plots, BKMR figure sets

Example Results

SELECTED FIGURES FROM ACTUAL REPORTS

Total Ion Chromatogram (TIC)

Single-sample total ion chromatogram for assessing chromatographic separation and instrument response.

QC Sample RSD Distribution

RSD distribution and cumulative percentage of targets in QCs — 79.5% of compounds show RSD < 15%, indicating good reproducibility.

QC Sample Correlation Pairs Plot

Pairwise Pearson correlations among QC samples generally exceed 0.99, demonstrating system stability and data reliability.

Differential Exposure Volcano Plot

Dual thresholds of log2(FC) and −log10(P) mark up/down-regulated exposures; bubble size maps VIP values.

Intergroup Hierarchical Clustering Heatmap

Top differential exposures clustered by sample, visualizing exposure-profile differences between groups.

Intergroup Z-score Plot

Z-score distribution of differential exposures across samples, comparing direction and magnitude of exposure shifts between groups.

Exposure–Disease Association Forest Plot

Odds ratios (log scale) and significance of top-30 exposure–disease associations, adjusted for age, region and BMI.

WQS Joint-Exposure Weight Analysis

Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression estimates each exposure's contribution weight to the mixture effect and overall risk.

Applications

APPLICATIONS

Environmental Pollutant Exposure AssessmentOccupational Health MonitoringFood Safety Risk-Compound ScreeningExposure–Disease AssociationEnvironmental Epidemiology Cohorts

FAQ

How long does a Environmental Exposomics project take?

Mature targeted panels typically take 1-3 weeks; untargeted projects take 2-4 weeks (counted from sample receipt and QC approval). The exact timeline is confirmed in writing before project start, and progress is trackable on the OmicsHub cloud platform.

What if my sample amount is below the recommendation?

Please do not dilute your samples. Low-input samples can often be accommodated by adjusting the preparation workflow — tell us the actual amount and our technical team will assess feasibility and note adjustments in the study plan.

Can I add targets to an existing panel?

Yes. Mature panels support on-demand additions; novel analytes outside the list can be implemented through custom method development (requires standards and extra validation time) — see our Custom Targeted Metabolomics service.

What samples do you need for Environmental Exposomics?

Serum/plasma ≥100 μL (fasting, no haemolysis), tissue ≥50 mg (snap-frozen), cells ≥1×10⁶ (medium washed off), urine ≥200 μL. Keep fasting time consistent, aliquot into single-use volumes and avoid freeze–thaw. Full guidance: Technical Resources → Sample Guide.