Commonly Abused Drug Screen Analysis
February 5th 2009Many businesses have recently adopted the federal government guidelines for drug testing of employees. It is common for initial testing to be performed by test strips for fast screening. Positive results are then confirmed by GC-MS. The goal of this application is to show the anticipated chromatographic responses expected when similar conditions are applied to Zebron columns.
Agilent Technologies Supports Healex ChemLaunch to Round Out Chromatography Software Suite
February 2nd 2009Agilent Technologies Inc. (Palo Alto, California) and Healex Systems Ltd.(Wilmington, Delaware) announced that Agilent now fully supports Healex's ChemLaunch remote instrument access and control module for Agilent's ChemStation chromatography software.
New Test To Detect Triclosan in Water
February 2nd 2009A team of scientists from Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Abraxis, Inc. compared the a new triclosan test, called "magnetic particle enzyme immunoassay," to the more traditional method-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). They hope that this test, which detects triclosan at a concentration of 20 parts per trillion (ppt)-the equivalent of 1 ounce in 31 million tons, can expedite environmental monitoring of this widely used antibacterial agent in rivers, wells, and other bodies of water.
SPE and SFE in Analysis of Phenolic Compounds from Algae and Bacteria
February 2nd 2009A research group from the Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry (Brno, Czech Republic) and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Trebon, Czech Republic) combined solid-phase exraction (SPE) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using an SPE cartridge incorporated in an SFE cell to extract benzoic acid and cinnamic acid derivatives from microalgae and cyanobacteria samples.
Agilent Technologies Increases GC Productivity with Low Thermal Mass Rapid Heating/Cooling Option
February 2nd 2009Agilent Technologies Inc., (Palo Alto, California) announced a low thermal mass (LTM) system for rapid heating and cooling of its 7890A gas chromatograph (GC), which will greatly increase productivity by significantly reducing analytical cycle times.
Hypertension and Cholesterol Medications Present in Water Released into the St. Lawrence River
February 2nd 2009A study conducted by Universite de Montreal (Montreal, Canada) researchers on downstream and upstream water from the Montreal wastewater treatment plant has revealed the presence of chemotherapy products and certain hypertension and cholesterol medications.
Hollow-Fiber Liquid-Phase Microextraction of Aromatic Amines
February 2nd 2009Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China) and the University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, China) used a two- and three-phase hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction method to determine aromatic amines in environmental water samples.
Study Finds That In-Vitro Fertilization Plancentation May Differ from Normal Plancentation
February 2nd 2009In a study, presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, researchers unveiled findings that show distinct differences in protein detection between IVF and spontaneous pregnancies in the first half of gestation.
Commonly Abused Drug Screen Analysis
February 2nd 2009Many businesses have recently adopted the federal government guidelines for drug testing of employees created by NIDA (The National Institute on Drug Abuse) and SAMSHA (The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) as a result of federal legislation or drug related accidents and deteriorating work performance.
Scientists Attempt to Source Sea Salt
February 2nd 2009There are a host of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in sea salt that originate from several sources such as the surrounding plants, algae, bacteria and environmental pollution. A team of scientists from the University of Aveiro, one region where sea salt is produced, reasoned that the combination of VOC from the different local sources could be sufficient to create a unique fingerprint of the salt.
Practical Aspects of Solvent Extraction
February 1st 2009Columnist Ron Majors discusses some of the practical considerations in the successful application of the popular yet age-old technique of solvent extraction (also known as liquid–liquid extraction, or LLE). After a brief review of the basics, guidelines on the selection of the appropriate extraction solvents and how to use acid–base equilibria to ensure efficient extractions of ionic and ionizable compounds are provided. Problems in LLE and the solutions to these problems are highlighted. A newer technique called dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction is introduced.