Topic

Kevin A. Schug is a Full Professor and Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at The University of Texas (UT) at Arlington. He joined the faculty at UT Arlington in 2005 after completing a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Virginia Tech under the direction of Prof. Harold M. McNair and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Vienna under Prof. Wolfgang Lindner. Research in the Schug group spans fundamental and applied areas of separation science and mass spectrometry. Schug was named the LCGC Emerging Leader in Chromatography in 2009, and most recently has been named the 2012 American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Young Investigator in Separation Science awardee.

Articles

The petroleum industry appears to be making significant strides to improve the environmental stewardship and operational efficiency of energy production by implementing new technologies and capitalizing on previously wasted resources like produced water and flare gas. Nonetheless, many questions still remain about the management of aging or even abandoned infrastructure because abandoned production wells provide a potential for undocumented contamination events.

The LCGC Blog: The Analytical Arsenal for Point Source Attribution

Decomposing animal tissue releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs), of interest in forensic science. We describe the use of GC×GC–qMS/FID retrofitted with a reverse fill/flush (RFF) flow modulator for analyzing these VOCs in a tropical climate.

Investigating Decomposition Odor in a Tropical Climate by Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography (GC×GC) Coupled with Mass Spectrometry (MS) and Flame Ionization Detection (FID)

Recently, the concept of environmental and social corporate governance (ESG) has received greater focus, particularly in the oil and gas industry. Its implementation offers opportunities for analytical chemists to help achieve greater sustainability.


An Opportunity for Industrial–Academic Partnerships

Pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry has advantages for the analysis of environmental microplastic samples compared to other leading analytical methods, including spectroscopic techniques.

Identification of Microplastics in Environmental Monitoring Using Pyrolysis–GC–MS Analysis

In April 2020, on the heels of the pandemic shutdown, the price of crude oil fell to a negative value for the first time ever. The shutdown hit many oil and gas companies hard. But while companies lick their wounds and decide their next moves, an important concept called environmental and social corporate governance (ESG) has come greater into focus.

The LCGC Blog: Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) in the Hydrocarbon Processing Industry (HPI) is an Opportunity for Industrial–Academic Partnerships

Jasmin Zboron joined the Gerstel Analytical Services department in 2015 as Application Specialist, after completing her B.Sc. Following projects on determining priority contaminants in water, her main focus is currently on GC/MS sample preparation and application development.

A highly sensitive method for quantitative determination of contaminants in surface waters, with and without particulate matter, was tested using stir-bar sorptive extraction (SBSE).

Extraction and Analysis of Contaminants in Water with Particulate Matter Using SBSE

Jennifer Lüber is currently the Product Specialist for Titration/TitrIC at Metrohm AG in Switzerland. She finished her apprenticeship as a Lab Technician at Metrohm AG in 2014. Afterwards, she was involved in projects related to column development, and worked in the laboratory for a short time at Metrohm UK. In 2015, Jennifer returned to Metrohm AG to join the competence center for titration, eventually taking responsibility for the TitrIC systems in 2018. Jennifer received her professional bachelor’s degree in business process management in 2019.

Uncovering the benefits of a system that hyphenates ion chromatography,  titration, and direct measurement, in environmental analysis of water samples.

Environmental Analysis with Integrated Ion Chromatography, Titration, and Direct Measurement

Waldemar Weber started his studies as a chemist in 2005 at the University of Münster, Germany. There, after graduating as a chemist, he achieved his Ph.D. in 2011 and completed a postdoc in 2013 at the Münster Electrochemical Energy Technology (‘MEET’) Research Center. From 2012 to 2013 he was employed as an Application Specialist at JAS in Moers, Germany. In November 2018 he joined Shimadzu Europa as Product Manager for GC–MS.

Exploring a new TD method capable of simultaneous analysis of compounds with a wide range of boiling points, high sensitivity, and high restore rates.

Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Environment Using TD-GC–MS

A hybrid HILIC–ion exchange column was used for the analysis of ultrashort-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds in environmental waters. This direct injection LC–MS method enables simultaneous measurement of ultrashort- chain, alternative, and legacy PFAS in potable and non-potable waters.

Simultaneous Analysis of Ultrashort-Chain, Alternative, and Legacy PFAS in Potable and Non-Potable Waters

A comprehensive monitoring protocol has been developed using GC–MS/ECD in selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode, with injection performed by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and headspace (HS). This single system has been configured to analyze for all taste and odor (T&O) compounds in Standard Method 2170, with minimal changing of columns, injectors, or SPME fibers between methods.


A Turnkey Protocol for Detecting Taste and Odor Compounds in Drinking and Surface Waters by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and Electron Capture Detector (GC–MS/ECD)

Environmental Analysis | Topics