The Column-05-15-2018

Snezana Agatonovic-Kustrin, a professor in pharmaceutical chemistry at Monash University, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, spoke to The Column about the development of a method to evaluate antidiabetic and antioxidant activity in marine algae using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC)-direct bioautography.

Is it time to update your working practices?

This article highlights three events that require new method development to meet various detection needs, ranging from the detection of pesticides such as fipronil and glyphosate, to the detection and quantification of fat-soluble vitamins.

I do not remember the application, but I remember very clearly Professor McNair telling us that soil is one of the most challenging sample matrices, if not the toughest, from which to perform analytical determinations. Sources indicate the composition of soil ideal for growing plants to be 25% air, 25% water, 45% minerals, and 5% organic matter. That does not seem like a daunting makeup, but the reality is that the relative proportion of the constituents can vary dramatically.

Per- and polyfuorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are a rapidly growing environmental and human health concern. Owing to their broad commercial use, chemical stability, and bioaccumulation potential, these compounds are widely dispersed in the environment and can cause exposure through many potential pathways. To adequately estimate exposure risks, analytical methods are required that can measure low levels of PFAS compounds in many types of matrices. As will be described, recent advances in solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) have enabled the identification and quantification of a large number of PFAS compounds at low concentration (

Postnova Analytics has announced a joint collaboration with the Department of Biosciences at the University of Helsinki in Finland, to use AF4 for the purification of halophilic viruses.

Restek has partnered with the Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania to host three STEM expos with the aim of building basic science skills in girls.

Peak Scientific has given a guided tour of their manufacturing headquarters in Inchinnan, Scotland, to his Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester to mark the company’s 20th anniversary

Researchers from the University of Almería, in Almería, Spain, have developed a nontargeted metabolomic approach to differentiate organic and non-organic tomato crops using HPLC–HRAMS.

Researchers from the Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, in France, have developed a large volume injection method using a programmed temperature vaporization (PTV) injector for the simultaneous determination of mercury, tin, and lead at ultra-trace levels in natural waters using GC–ICP-MS.

Click the title above to open The Column May 2018 North American issue, Volume 14, Number 5, in an interactive PDF format.

Click the title above to open The Column May 2018 Europe & Asia issue, Volume 14, Number 5, in an interactive PDF format.