The Washington, DC-based American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL) announced the 21 laboratories receiving the nationwide 2011 ACIL Seal of Excellence (SOE) Award at the ACIL Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. Developed in 1996 to address the industry's quality issues and recognize those laboratories with exemplary quality performance, the SOE Program also provides laboratory data users with a mechanism to evaluate testing laboratories. Participants commit to ensuring data integrity, meeting customers’ quality needs and setting performance standards for the testing laboratory industry. No other evaluation program ranks customer satisfaction with laboratory services and requires laboratory management to commit to a data integrity program. As recipients of the ACIL SOE, Weck Laboratories, Inc. has demonstrated commitment to quality and customer service.

Weck Laboratories, Inc. now offers the identification of positive results from testing for the Coliform group of bacteria. We employ the API 20 E® standardized identification system from bioMérieux. The system is applicable for Enterobacteriaceae and other non-fastidious, gram negative rods and uses miniaturized biochemical tests and a database. The test strip consists of microtubes containing dehydrated substrates. These tubes are inoculated with a bacterial suspension that reconstitutes the media. During incubation, metabolism produces color changes that are either spontaneous or revealed by the addition of reagents. The reactions are recorded and compared to an Analytical Profile Index table. The assignment of identification is simple, rapid and reliable. Transfer, inoculation, enrichment, segregation & identification takes 3 days from the positive coliform result. It cannot be used to identify any other family of microorganisms or to exclude their presence. Water treatment and distribution system customers can use this information to track the type of contamination in their systems and take appropriate corrective actions.

Weck Laboratories joins the Environmental Response Laboratory Network. The ERLN is EPA's national network of laboratories that can be accessed as needed to support large scale environmental responses. With the threat of a chemical, biological, and radiological attack to the United States becoming more complex, the need for accurate, timely environmental testing capabilities becomes even more crucial to manage a response effectively.

Weck Laboratories acquires Agilent Technologies new 7000B Triple Quadrupole Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS/MS), delivering high confidence in ultra-trace level results, while shortening analysis times for target compounds in complex samples. The 7000B provides femtogram-level sensitivity for analyses such as pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, pyrethroids, THC, and steroids in food, environmental, pharmaceutical, and forensic matrices. Advanced GC and MS/MS technologies translate into everyday high performance. MS/MS techniques are most often cited for consistent, ultra-low detection limits with very complex sample matrices. Multi-target screening methods-pesticide residues in foods, drugs in biological fluids and environmental contaminants in soil and water-have dominated much of the literature. But what's often overlooked is that any SIM method can benefit from MS/MS, with better qualitative and quantitative results. Benefits include:

• Elimination of chemical and neutral noise in the spectral region of the product ions-translating into lower detection limits than SIM
• Higher probability of a more unique (more selective) product ion-translating into fewer false negatives and false positives than SIM

Recent improvements in the GCMS-NCI-SIM analysis for Pyrethroid pesticides method at Weck Laboratories now includes Esfenvalerate being added to the target compound list. The enhancements also result in lowered reporting limits for most compounds from 10 ng/L to 2 ng/L.

Weck Laboratories acquires Pickering Lab's GPC ULTRA. The ULTRA automates Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) sample concentration for the clean-up of complex animal tissues, food products, and environmental samples. The high recoveries and concentrated samples are easily analyzed by GC, GC-MS, HPLC or LC-MS. GPC is a well-known technology for the removal of fats, proteins, and other large bio-molecules from samples in order to prevent interfer¬ence in the analysis of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides, PCBs, antibiotics, mycotoxins, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and other semi-volatile compounds. Ideally suited for high-throughput laboratories requiring reliability and reproducibility, the GPC ULTRA is optimized for unattended operation, low maintenance, and consistent recoveries.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing facility effluents are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for wastewater discharges as specified under Pharmaceutical Effluent Guidlines in 40CFR439. Conventional and non-conventional pollutants are listed under four industrial process categories: Fermentation, Extraction, Chemical Synthesis & Mixing, Compounding or Formulation.

The guidlines require a special analytical procedures for volatile organics by isotope dilution GCMS which is published in method EPA 1666A. Certain volatile, water-soluble organic compounds do not purge well from water and are analyzed by direct aqueous injection while the remainder are analyzed by the purge & trap introduction technique. Weck Laboratories now offers both purge & trap and direct injection analysis for PMI-VOCs by EPA 1666A. Compound list.

We are scheduled to launch a new version of our website during the first quarter of 2010. It will include many new features to enhance your access to analytical data and information at www.wecklabs.com .The new features will include:

• Improved Design and navigation
• Improved speed, reliability, and security
• Method target compound lists with dynamic, real-time reporting & method detection limits 
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP) capabilities allowing customers to batch download large qroups of reports and other deliverables 
• Updated virtual tour with more photos
• Improved Web Data Access
• View preliminary results 
• Project to Project Manager association
• Enhanced Account Management Features
• Configurable Automatic Notifications
• Project Detail

Determination of Trace Elements in Water by On-Line Chelation Preconcentration and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry. Weck Laboratories has expanded the target metals list from 14 to 20 elements! Three sampl e pre-treatment options within the method employ co-precipitation, reduction or ion exchange pre-concentration. These steps remove the dissolved solids matrix while concentrating the target analytes. This sample preparation significantly reduces interferences and enhances the detection limits. The column preconcentration technique is applicable to most of the elements and employs an iminodiacetate functionalized chelating resin column in an on-line pH buffered system. It is the most efficient option as sample handling is minimal.

Promium, LLC announces that two of the top five most productive environmental labs in the country use their Element DataSystem LIMS software. According toThe Steve Maxwell / ELWR 2009 Lab Survey and Analysis published in the May 2009 Environmental Laboratory Washington Report, Weck Laboratories is among the top five most productive labs based on revenue per employee. The report attributes the operational success in large part to "...automated lab data management systems as the critical cornerstone for improved productivity."