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3M and NIBRT Collaborate

ByLewis Botcherby

The Column

3M, the science-based technology company, has commissioned the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) to conduct in-depth research into their Emphaze AEX Hybrid Purifier, a single use plug and play filter matrix.

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Unsettling Statistics

The Column

Incognito delves into some statistics on chromatography research, and is unsettled by what he finds.

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Detection of Novel “Designer Drugs” Using Full-Scan GC–HRAM

ByLisa Thomas

The Column

Novel psychoactive substances pose a major challenge for forensic toxicology and drug-seizure laboratories because of the scale and speed at which these new “designer drugs” are entering the market. To keep pace with the threat, laboratories require robust full-scan detection techniques capable of both targeted drug screening and the identification of unexpected compounds too. Here, a full-scan gas chromatography (GC) coupled to high-resolution accurate mass (HRAM) approach for the profiling of known and unknown drugs of abuse is presented.

The LCGC Blog: Ghost Peaks in Gradient HPLC

ByTony Taylor

The LCGC Blog

I guess we have all had the issue at some time or other. A blank injection of eluent (or a zero volume dummy injection) gives rise to discreet peaks on the chromatographic baseline which may interfere with analyte peaks or increase the complexity of the chromatogram obtained, especially when performing trace analysis.chromatogram obtained, especially when performing trace analysis. Of course this is an undesirable situation and one which can be difficult to understand or troubleshoot as, if we didn’t inject anything, how on earth do we end up with discrete beaks in the blank chromatogram? The secret to understanding the phenomenon lies in understanding the mechanisms of gradient of HPLC.

The LCGC Blog: 10 Things I Learned about Responsible Shale Energy Extraction

ByKevin A. Schug

The LCGC Blog

As part of the Earth Day celebration in Dallas, Texas, last month, the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation (CLEAR) at U.T. Arlington hosted the first annual Responsible Shale Energy Extraction (RSEE) symposium (www.shalescience.org). We had an exceptional range of speakers who conveyed all sides of the issue, including U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and atmospheric scientist Dr. Katherine Hayhoe from Texas Tech University, one of Time’s top 100 most influential people. We had representatives from major oil producers, environmental groups, land management groups, water recycling service companies, and scientists conversant on many key issues related to unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction. Even though we have been very involved in this conversation for the past several years, several points stood out.