New Food AOAC Method!
On the Road Again…
SETAC North America
Our Technical Services Specialist, Elizabeth Madonick and Sales Manager, Jamie Fox, will be attending the 36th Annual North America Meeting for SETAC in Salt Lake City, UT from November 1-5, 2015. This year’s theme is “Buzzing with Science, Cross-Pollination for Environmental Progress” and will draw more than 1900 scientists and environmental professionals to collaborate and learn about the latest environmental research and technology. Elizabeth and Jamie would love to connect with you, so let us know if you will be attending as well!
International Water Conference
Join our Director of Business Development, Russ Gerads and Technical Sales Manager, Jamie Fox, at the 76th Annual International Water Conference in Orlando, FL from November 15-19, 2015. The IWC is considered the world’s premier conference confronting the challenges of industrial water treatment. Certainly let us know if you will be attending so we can discuss how BAL can assist you with your wastewater treatment challenges.
AOAC Annual Meeting Recap
Couldn’t attend the 129th Annual AOAC Meeting in Los Angles in September? Brooks Applied Labs was there, and here’s what you missed:
- During the awards ceremony that opened the conference, BAL President/CEO Michelle Briscoe was honored with the 2015 Technical Service Award for her contributions to the Heavy Metals Expert Review Panel and the in her role as co-chair of the Metals Subgroup.
- In the session “Analysis of Metals and Metals Speciation in Food” (chaired by BAL President/CEO Michelle Briscoe), BAL’s Business Development Director, Russ Gerads, presented an excellent talk on the speciation of arsenic in wine.
- Ms. Briscoe, co-author of the new AOAC First Action Method 2015.01 for the determination of heavy metals in food by ICP-MS presented a poster summarizing the development of that method.
- Mr. Gerads presented on the topic of Differentiation between Nutritional and Carcinogenic Selenium via Speciation Analyses during the Metals Subgroup meeting.
Hope to see you at the 130th Annual AOAC Meeting next year in Dallas!
Growing Interest in Biomonitoring for Cobalt
Recently, there have been growing concern related to cobalt (Co) exposure through supplement intake and in patients receiving metal hip implants made with a Co-alloy material, prompting an investigation into analytical methodologies for the determination of total Co in biological fluids. Co is a component of cyanocobalamin and is necessary in the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells. In coordination with Exponent and Cardno ChemRisk, two scientists from Brooks Applied Labs (formed through the merger of Applied Speciation & Consulting and Brooks Rand Labs), Russ Gerads and Dr. Hakan Gurleyuk designed an investigative study to compare sample preparation methods and analytical technologies available to commercial laboratories for the analysis of Co in whole blood, serum, and synovial fluid at low concentrations (< 5 mg Co/L). In the recent issue of Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, the results of this study were published. The conclusion identifies the comparability of the methods and platform technologies and pinpoints the significance of ultra-trace sample handling and preparation procedures. Contact us today to learn more about the article and to find out more about how Brooks Applied Labs can support your investigative biomonitoring studies assessing human exposure to toxic metals and their potential health effects.Method Spotlight: Selenium Speciation of FGD Wastewaters
Method Spotlight: Selenium Speciation of FGD Wastewaters
Coal usually contains high levels of selenium, particularly from sources that are also high in sulfur. This results in waste streams from coal-fired power plants having selenium concentrations that far exceed industrial discharge limits.
Removal of selenium from these wastewater streams can present a significant challenge since the effectiveness of most treatment processes depends on the forms (or species) of selenium present. Different plant operating conditions and treatment additives are well-known to impact selenium speciation in flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewaters. Monitoring which forms of selenium are present at various stages and over time, particularly as changes are made to plant operations, is critical for ensuring that wastewater treatment systems are functioning properly.
Brooks Applied Labs (BAL) offers advanced analytical services for the determination selenium species by a variety of hyphenated techniques, the most common of which is IC-ICP-CRC-MS. Coupling ion chromatography (IC) separation methods to inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instruments equipped with collision reaction cell (CRC) technology allows for high sensitivity and accuracy in even the most complex matrices. Over a dozen different selenium species can be measured with these methods, including selenite [Se(IV)], selenate [Se(VI)], selenocyanate [SeCN], selenosulfate [SeSO32-], selenomethionine [SeMet], selenomethionine oxide [SeMetO], methylseleninic acid [MeSe(IV)], and methaneselenonic acid [MeSe(VI)]. An example chromatogram for selenium speciation by IC-ICP-CRC-MS is shown below:
Should these routine methods indicate the presence of “missing” forms of Se, BAL has both the expertise and other developed methods to close the selenium mass balance. For example, reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography ICP-CRC-MS (RP-HPLC-ICP-CRC-MS), can be used for measurement of non-ionic forms of selenium like dimethylselenide [DMSe] and dimethyldiselenide [DMDSe]. The latter two species can be formed in biological treatment systems that are often used for selenium removal.
To find out more about how we can help with your next project, please contact us!Announcing Our New Statement of Qualifications
Brooks Applied Labs is pleased to announce our new streamlined Statement of Qualifications (SOQ). We have enhanced our SOQ by making it an interactive gateway to the wealth of information on our website, making it even easier for potential clients to find answers to their questions with ease! In this document, clients will be able to find out more about our qualifications, from detailed descriptions of our high-end laboratory to the unique expertise our staff offers to each and everyone of our clients. View our Statement of Qualifications online now!Brooks Rand Labs is now Brooks Applied Labs
Thank you for your patience as we transition to become Brooks Applied Labs!
We have moved to Bothell, WA, completing our merge. Brooks Rand Labs in Seattle is now closed.
All future samples should be sent to our Bothell address:
18804 North Creek Parkway, Suite 100
Bothell, WA 98011, USA
Brooks Applied Labs will use the same Tax ID number as Brooks Rand Labs.
Welcome Jamie Fox!
We are thrilled to announce that Jamie Fox joined Brooks Rand Labs as our Technical Sales Manager. As a key member of our Business Development team, Jamie is responsible for identifying and capturing new opportunities that require trace metals and metals speciation testing. He works closely with our business development and project management teams to ensure that the client’s objectives are met and the best possible analytical solution is selected for each project. With eight years of experience in environmental and pharmaceutical laboratories as an analytical chemist and another eight years as a laboratory auditor and data validator, Mr. Fox has the breadth of technical knowledge and experience to assist our clients with their most challenging projects. Despite the fact that he is often seen out on the road at conferences and meetings, he still loves to travel in his spare time with his wife, hang out with his two rescue hounds, or take a hike in the mountains near his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Welcome Jamie!
BRL on the Road Again…
DOECAP Analytical Services Program Workshop
Michelle Briscoe, BRL’s President/CEO and Jamie Fox, BRL’s new Technical Sales Manager, will be headed to Charleston, South Carolina, September 14-17, to attend the Department of Energy Consolidated Audit Program (DOECAP) Analytical Services Program Workshop. Ms. Briscoe will be presenting a talk at the workshop on the topic of Methods for the Analysis and Speciation of Mercury. BRL is a DOECAP-audited laboratory available to perform specialty trace metals analytical services at all US DOE sites and maintains a current Radioactive Materials License. Contact us for more info!
AOAC International Annual Meeting
Join Michelle Briscoe and Russ Gerads, BRL’s Business Development Director, at the AOAC 129th Annual Meeting & Exposition in Los Angeles, California, September 27-30. Ms. Briscoe will be chairing the session Analysis of Metals and Metals Speciation in Food on September 28th, and Mr. Gerads will be presenting a platform presentation in this session titled, “Analysis of Wine for the Characterization of Inorganic Arsenic and Metalloid Compounds”. Ms. Briscoe will be presenting a poster on September 29th titled, “Determination of Heavy Metals in Food: AOAC First Action Method 2015.01,” as well as chairing the meeting of the Metals Subgroup of the AOAC Contaminants Community. The full preliminary program for the conference can be viewed online. If you would like to arrange a meeting with either attendee during this conference, please contact us.
Sequential Extraction for Arsenic Speciation in Soils
It has become increasingly common for risk assessment and treatability studies to require arsenic speciation data to determine the potential mobility of this toxic contaminant at varying sites.
Looking at arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] values can be helpful for these studies; however, this approach can only provide a snapshot of how much arsenic is readily leachable at any given time. In situ, the conditions in soil and sediment samples can change over time depending on many factors, including the amount of rainfall, contaminant plume movement, and the hydrogeology at each individual site. Arsenic trapped in various mineral phases can be mobilized under varying site conditions, and even the treatment technologies used to remediate a site can affect the chemistry of the targeted environment and the subsequent arsenic lability.
At Brooks Rand Labs (BRL), we have a proprietary procedure for the selective sequential extraction of groups of arsenic species in soluble, adsorbed, and precipitated forms of arsenic compounds in soils, sediments, and similar solid matrices using a series of solutions with an increasing ability to solubilize and extract the solid-phase arsenic. Rather than identify specific arsenic species, the arsenic is fractionated in accordance with its interaction with iron oxyhydroxides, manganese oxyhydroxides, aluminum oxides, and other substrate components. The applied extraction solutions are designed to target the different substrate components and stabilize the respective arsenic species within each of the defined fractions below. The typical arsenic compounds listed for each fraction are only representative of how the method can perform and will fluctuate with different sites and conditions.
The BRL arsenic sequential extraction method accompanied by analysis of each fraction for total arsenic and other elements can be a powerful tool to help predict how much arsenic will be mobilized under different conditions. This type of information can be of enormous value for modeling, risk assessment, and design/engineering of treatment technologies.
If you would like more information about the selective sequential extraction procedure for arsenic speciation and whether it would be appropriate for your project, please contact us.