Gas Chromatography (GC)

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Melamine is an industrial chemical with a high nitrogen content that can cause kidney stones and lead to renal failure. In some instances, melamine has been added to baby formula and dairy products as a substitute for protein. This paper presents an efficient and definitive gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method to identify melamine and related compounds based on the released US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) method.

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This application details a fast, reliable and highly selective trace-level screening method for the quantification of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in environmental, food and biological samples, using gas chromatography and a triple stage quadrupole mass spectrometer. The analytical strategy is analogous to the well-established US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Method 1668A.

Researchers Edward Staples from the US measurement technology company Q&A Solutions (Westlake Village, CA) and Shekar Viswanathan from the National University (San Diego, CA) have developed a new method for detecting contraband in cargo containers using urface acoustic waves (SAWs) and a capillary-based gas chromatograph column.

PerkinElmer, Inc. (Waltham, MA) announced the acquisition of Arnel Inc. (Parlin, NJ), a provider of custom engineered solutions for gas chromatography applications in the petrochemical, food and beverage, and industrial hygiene markets.

Teledyne Tekmar Company (Mason, OH), a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, has partnered with Sun Analytical Instruments. Sun Analytical Instruments will be responsible for managing sales for Tekmar?s analytical instruments in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

According to a report in Nature News, nitrogen trifluoride is an extremely potent greenhouse gas used in the electronics industry, which is at least four times more abundant in the atmosphere than previously thought. Scientists recommend that to better control its use, NF3 should be added to the list of gases regulated under future climate-change agreements.

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This month in "GC Connections", in the first of a two-part series, John Hinshaw relates what happens when high-voltage spikes attack modern electronic equipment, what to do when they occur, and how to set up equipment to minimize damage and loss of data.

Pittcon and Wiley-Blackwell announced that they will produce four webinars in 2008-2009 to kickoff  the new "Wiley-Blackwell/Pittcon Webinar Series."

Technology Forum: GC

This month, Chromatography Online's Technology Forum looks at the topic of GC and the trends and issues surrounding it. Joining us for this discussion is Trisa Robarge of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kaj Petersen of GERSTEL, and Sky Countryman of Phenomenex.

Researchers Philip Marriott from the RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia), Warawut Tiyapongpattana, and Prapin Wilairat from the Mahidol University (Bangkok, Thailand) have developed a 2D GC with FID method for determining the composition of biofuels that extends to the C4-C24 esters. They reasoned that a 2D separation, based first on boiling point then on polarity, would provide better resolution of the components.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) announced it has created a specialized training program to address the current melamine crisis in China. The program will be available in early October and is part of Agilent University, a multifaceted education program for Agilent's customers in China.

New research led by David Valentine of University of California at Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA), Chris Reddy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) (Woodshole, MA), George Wardlaw, a graduate student in the Marine Science program at UCSB, and three other co-authors from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and WHOI details how microbes are dining on thousands of compounds that make up the oil seeping from the sea floor.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (San Jose, CA.) has announced that its Atlas Chromatography Data System now supports Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.