The dissertation's research area involves the determination of selected antibiotics and tranquillizers in meat and urine. I am developing appropriate sample preparation to determine the analytes using separation techniques: high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis.
I was very interested in this topic because consumers unknowingly can consume residues of compounds administered to animals during breeding with meat – says the UL doctoral student – Meat producers administer drugs to animals not only to cure them but also prophylactically to avoid disease among entire herds of animals or as growth promoters to unnaturally accelerate weight gain.
By ingesting residues of such chemical compounds and then excreting them into the environment with urine and faeces, consumers are contributing to the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance. This is one of the biggest global problems today because the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics makes it difficult or even impossible to treat bacterial infections.
The results of such research will provide laboratories performing routine meat analysis with new, sensitive and precise tools for determining such compounds. They will also contribute to increased consumer awareness of healthy eating.