Trace Chemical Analytics Lab

Description

The Institute of Environmental Sciences provides quantitative analysis and technical expertise to members of the Institutes’ community, other research facilities, and industry needing to conduct measurements. The cutting-edge facility allows students and researchers to perform accurate and precise analysis on a range of environmental sediment/soil, aquatic plant, and water samples. The state-of-the art fully-automated Thermo Scientific equipment used in the facility achieves high-throughput, high-sensitivity, and high-resolution separation and quantitation of trace levels of compounds (e.g. plant protection products, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, mycotoxins, proteins, etc.) even in the presence of highly abundant matrix interferences. To provide high quality analysis, the facility also houses a range of extraction/isolation and purification platforms to aid in preparing complex samples for analysis.

 

Major Equipment

  • Thermo Scientific Accela U-HPLC system;
  • Thermo Scientific-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS;
  • Other detectors: ELSD/DAD;
  • Thermo Scientific Dionex ASE 350 (Accelerated Solvent Extractor; fully automated);
  • SPE (Solid Phase Extraction).

Selected Research

  • Stang, C., Bakanov, N. & Schulz, R. (2016): Experiments in water-macrophyte systems to uncover the dynamics of pesticide mitigation processes in vegetated surface waters/streams. Environ Sci Pollut Res
  • Stang, C., Wieczorek, M.V., Noss, C., Lorke, A., Scherr, F., Goerlitz, G., Schulz, R. (2014): Role of submerged vegetation in the retention processes of three plant protection products in flow-through stream mesocosms. Chemosphere Vol. 107
  • Fernández, D., Vermeirssen, E.L.M., Bandow, N., Muñoz, K., Schäfer, R.B. (2014): Calibration and field application of passive sampling for episodic exposure to polar organic pesticides in streams. Environ. Pollut.