Melamine detection using phase-shift fiber-loop ring-down spectroscopy

Melamine is an illegal adulteration in milk, infant formula and pet food. Its misuse is toxic to humans and animals, so rapid and reliable screening methods for melamine detection are essential. In this paper, a phase-shift fiber-loop ring-down spectroscopy (PS-FLRDS)-based system is developed and evaluated for the detection and quantification of melamine. In the PS-FLRDS technique, an intensity-modulated continuous-wave (CW) laser is used as the light source, and a phase shift between the incident and emitted light of the fiber loop is introduced due to losses caused by the fiber loop and absorbing sample. By measuring this phase shift, one can readily obtain the concentration information of the measured species. Phase shifts of melamine solutions with different concentrations are measured and the experimental results show that there is a good linear relationship between the phase shift and the melamine concentration in low concentration range and a detection limit of 0.03 mg/mL has been achieved.