Ensuring reliable elemental analysis in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical research is a prerequisite to human safety. Here we report on the use of total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, its state-of the art and challenges in those fields.

This work presents the results of the first Serbian monitoring campaign performed to assess the occupational exposure of petrochemical industry workers to benzene (B), toluene (T), ethylbenzene (E), and xylene (X), known collectively as BTEX. The following urinary biomarkers were investigated: phenol, hippuric acid, o-Cresol, p-Cresol, and creatinine. BTEX compounds were collected in 2014 using Casella passive samplers. Multivariate statistical analysis was performed to put in evidence the correlation between the BTEX measured in air and the concentration of urinary biomarkers. While the results indicate an elevated presence of benzene in the air in the working environment studied that surpasses the national and European Occupational Exposure Limits (OEL), the levels of the remaining (TEX) parameters measured were below the OEL. The high relative standard deviations (RSD) for the concentrations of each BTEX compound (68–161 mg m⁻³) point toward an intensive occupational exposure to BTEX. This was confirmed by relevant urine biomarkers, particularly by the mean values of phenol, which were ten and fourteen times higher than the ones found in the control group (14–12 mg g⁻¹ of creatinine). On average, workers are at a higher risk of developing cancer (6.1 × 10⁻³), with risk levels exceeding the US EPA limits. Benzene levels should therefore be maintained under tight controls and monitored via proper urinary biomarkers.

Synchrotron radiation‐based Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy enables access to vibrational information from mid over far infrared to even terahertz domains. This information may prove critical for the elucidation of fundamental bio‐molecular phenomena including folding‐mediated innate host defence mechanisms. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent one of such phenomena. These are major effector molecules of the innate immune system, which favour attack on microbial membranes. AMPs recognise and bind to the membranes whereupon they assemble into pores or channels destabilising the membranes leading to cell death. However, specific molecular interactions responsible for antimicrobial activities have yet to be fully understood. Herein we probe such interactions by assessing molecular specific variations in the near‐THz 400–40 cm⁻¹range for defined helical AMP templates in reconstituted phospholipid membranes. In particular, we show that a temperature‐dependent spectroscopic analysis, supported by 2D correlative tools, provides direct evidence for the membrane‐induced and folding‐mediated activity of AMPs. The far‐FTIR study offers a direct and information‐rich probe of membrane‐related antimicrobial interactions.

Ni in Cairo’s air exceeds WHO/EU limits (20–30 ng m ⁻³ ). Synchrotron techniques used for mapping and speciation. XANES reveals divalent Ni dominance in industrial areas, linking pollution to anthropogenic sources with carcinogenic risks.