Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, is a term given to organic compounds that become a gas at ambient temperatures and pressures. These VOCs are monitored because many are hazardous to human health, with several being a carcinogen. The source of these VOCs are industrial processes, vehicle emissions, and even natural sources such as forest fires.…
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Robustness is something that needs to be considered when using a Gas Chromatograph (GC) instrument. You want a system that is rugged and reliable and able to withstand dirty samples and long batch times, so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time troubleshooting, repairing, or cleaning your GC. After all, you’ve got…
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HPLC columns are the crux of a good separation and as we all learned, the smaller the particle size, the higher the efficiency of the column, and the better resolution you will get. This better resolution leads to more peaks being separated out or even close eluting peaks to be baseline resolved. With smaller particle…
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Continuing on from last week with the gummy bear sample preparations, I decided to take a look at the different things in that gummy bear. The gummy bear in question is a multivitamin that contains a multitude of different vitamins, so I decided to first focus on Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid. Preparing the sample…
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With gummy candies becoming more common as a matrix for things like cannabinoids and multivitamins, it’s important to have a simple, fast, and repeatable sample preparation in order to obtain reliable values for analytes of interest in these gummies. I started with a multivitamin fiber gummy, and I thought to myself, how do I get…
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Last week I set out to test the myth that there was cocaine on US currency, specifically dollar bills. After testing several dollar bills, I came up empty handed on any of the bills testing positive for cocaine, other than the bill that I purposely spiked with cocaine. Speaking with colleagues, I learned that I…
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I decided to put a long standing rumor to rest that I heard when I was in middle school, and everyone I know believes. That rumor is that all US dollars have trace amounts of cocaine on them. To test this I went around and collected dollar bills from various stores in the area. These…
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Like most people, when the new year comes around I always make a resolution to eat healthy and lose some weight. This year I decided to cut back on the amount of sugar I eat on a daily basis. Sugar is a major additive in foods and beverages. The American Heart Association recommends that…
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Awhile back, I was involved in a multi car accident, where I was sandwiched in the middle. My car and I both took a beating. This accident left me with major wrist pain to the point that I couldn’t shake a separatory funnel without extreme pain and weakness. For this pain I was prescribed Acetaminophen,…
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Nicotine in vaping e-liquid sample in methanol System Parameters Lucidity GC-FID Conditions Carrier Hydrogen Control Pressure Flow 2.0 mL/min Split ratio 10:1 Column MXT-5 30 m x 0.25 mm, 0.25 um Injector 250 ℃ FID 250 ℃ Oven Program Rate Temperature Hold Time 35 ℃ 0 min 11 ℃/min 250 ℃ 4.0 min For…
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