TO PROACTIVELY ENSURE HIGH-QUALITY AND SAFE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PRODUCTS, THERE IS A SYSTEM-LEVEL NEED FOR AFFORDABLE TECHNOLOGIES CAPABLE OF RAPID, TRACE-LEVEL (SUB-PPM) CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF LARGE NUMBERS OF SAMPLES. EXISTING ANALYTICAL APPROACHES, E.G. MASS SPECTROMETRY (MS), ARE RELATIVELY SLOW BECAUSE OF THE NEED FOR PRIOR SAMPLE EXTRACTION AND PRE-CONCENTRATION, AND ARE OFTEN UNSUITABLE FOR ROUTINE, NEAR-REAL TIME QUALITY ASSURANCE. THESE SAMPLE PREPARATION APPROACHES ARE GENERALLY SLOW, EXPENSIVE, TECHNICALLY CHALLENGING, AND/OR REQUIRE LARGE VOLUMES OF HAZARDOUS SOLVENTS. SMALLER PRODUCERS MAY ALSO NEED TO SEND SAMPLES FOR MS ANALYSIS TO EXTERNAL SERVICE LABS, WHICH CREATES ADDITIONAL COSTS AND LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES FOR PERISHABLE SAMPLES. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL IS TO CREATE A NOVEL, BROADLY APPLICABLE TECHNOLOGY THAT ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR CONVENIENT AND INEXPENSIVE EXTRACTION AND STORAGE OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS (TOXINS, FLAVOR COMPOUNDS, NUTRIENTS)FROM FOODS OR OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS PRIOR TO ANALYTICAL ANALYSIS (E.G. MASS SPECTROMETRY). BRIEFLY, A SORBENT POLYMER IS "SWELLED" (EXPANDED) WITH AN APPROPRIATE SOLVENT AND THEN IMMERSED IN A SAMPLE, ALLOWING FOR THE DIRECT EXTRACTION OF TRACE-LEVEL COMPOUNDS. THE SWELLABLE SORBENT SHEETS CAN THEN BE CONVENIENTLY ANALYZED IN-HOUSE OR SHIPPED BY STANDARD MAIL TO SERVICE LABS FOR ANALYSIS BY MS OR OTHER TECHNIQUES, ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR SHIPPING OR STORAGE OF PERISHABLE SAMPLES. IN THIS PROPOSED PROJECT, I WILL BUILD A SWELLABLE SORBENT SHEET DEVICE CAPABLE OF PARALLEL EXTRACTION FOR UP TO 24 SAMPLES AND WILL BROADEN THE RANGE OF EXTRACTABLE TARGET ANALYSES. THIS PROJECT SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSES THE AFRI FARM BILL PRIORITY AREA "AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY." THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL ASSIST BOTH SMALL- AND LARGE-SCALE PRODUCERS IN SCALING UP ANALYTICAL ANALYSES AS PART OF SYSTEMS LEVEL TESTING.