Holiday Schedule:
Laboratory will be closed Christmas, December 25th and New Years, January 1st.
Remember! All short holdtime tests should be submitted prior to noon the day before!
For emergency laboratory services please call: Alfredo Pierri (626) 926-4256 or Marilyn Romero (626) 926-4105
LCMSM Capacity Expanded!
Weck Laboratories has added a 2nd new LCMSMS system. The Applied Biosystems 4000 QTrap is a high performance ion trap and a high sensitivity triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in one system. It's primary use is for new methods development and for pharmaceuticals, personal care products & endocrine disruptors analysis. Our PPCP/EDC target compound list is now expanded with lower detection limits. Our first LCMSMS, a Varian 1200L system, runs routine samples for EPA 535 UCMR2 and EPA 331.0 perchlorate.
Acrylamide Analysis by LCMSMS
Acrylamide is primarily used as a coagulant to aid in the filtration of drinking water & wastewater during treatment. Other uses of include improvement of production from oil wells; in making organic chemicals and dyes; in the sizing of paper and textiles; in ore processing; in the construction of dam foundations and tunnels. It is measured at Weck Labs by direct-injection Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMSMS) with a reporting limit of 1 ug/L.
Weck Laboratories has received the ACIL Seal of Excellence & Special Recognition for being in the "Top Five" labs in Proficiency Testing scores for 2008
This program provides users with a mechanism for evaluating environmental testing laboratories. Participants are committed to ensuring the integrity of data, meeting customer's quality needs and setting the standards of performance for the testing laboratory industry. Any environmental testing laboratory who wants to be recognized as a participating laboratory must maintain proof of an annual ethics training and an early detection system for questionable analytical practices, submit a signed code of ethics and twelve months of Proficiency Testing (PT) scores, and distribute satisfaction surveys to their customers.
The participants have committed to a uniform code of ethics and provide Performance Evaluation data and Customer Survey data for comparison to other participants. The Seal of Excellence participants demonstrate that they are proud of the quality they achieve and always operate with customer service as a top priority. The results of the program's PT scores, customer satisfaction scores, list of Seal of Excellence Qualified Participants and the laboratory contact information are made public. All other customer information is held in the strictest confidence between the laboratory and the program administrator.
The Award is presented to laboratories scoring greater than 90% on the combined average of all the PT studies for the previous twelve months and ranked better than 3 on overall customer satisfaction and timeliness as measured by the Seal of Excellence Survey. The Twelfth annual Seal of Excellence Awards were presented at the ACIL Annual Meeting on October 13, 2008. For additional information on the Seal of Excellence program contact the Program Administrator
at (302) 368-1211 or email mmoore@advancedsys.com.
We've been busy at the lab bench!
Our staff here at Weck Laboratories has been busy with new method development, facility expansion and process automation. Our expansion includes approximately 500 square feet of additional radiochemistry space including a new sample preparation hood.
Pharmaceutical & Personal Care Products (PPCP) & Endocrine Disruptor Compounds (EDC)
Our method development chemists have developed analytical procedures for surveying water sources for the presence of trace levels of Endocrine Disruptor Compounds (EDCs) and Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs). These include reproductive hormones, flame retardants, alkyl phenols, opiates, analgesics, stimulants, anti-convulsants, statins & plasticizing agents. The various methods employ solid phase extraction and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) and Liquid Chromatography /tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMSMS). Detection limits range from the low parts per billion (ug/L) to the low parts per trillion (ng/L).
USEPA Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule No. 2 (UCMR2)
Weck is one of the first and few laboratories in the nation to be approved for all 5 Methods. The Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation supporting the second cycle (UCMR 2) of monitoring was signed on December 20, 2006. The UCMR 2 requires monitoring for 25 contaminants using five analytical methods during 2008-2010. Public water systems (PWSs) are responsible for their laboratories, and must ensure they are following the methods and meeting the quality control (QC) criteria specified in UCMR 2. Laboratories must post sample analytical results and required QC data electronically via the Safe Drinking Water Accession and Review System (SDWARS).
Ultra Low-Level Pyrethroid Pesticides by GCMS-NCI-SIM
Environmental monitoring of pyrethroid pesticide residue is becoming an increasing concern in stormwater, agricultural run-off, and sediments as some organophosphorus pesticides are replaced with pyrethroids. Very low levels, down to 10 nanograms per liter in water and 0.5 micrograms per kilogram in soil can be detected via Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) mode Negative Chemical Ionization (NCI) Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). Target compounds and limits are listed here...
Low-Level Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Congeners by GCMS-SIM
Weck is currently capable of determining the concentration of 25 of the 209 possible congeners of PCB at 10 ng/L (ppt) levels. The congeners range from 2,4'-Dichlorobiphenyl to Decachlorobiphenyl. The target compounds are removed from water samples by automated Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) and are analyzed by electron impact ionization GCMS in the Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) mode.
Low-level Perchlorate by ICMSMS or LCMSMS
Weck Laboratories has been performing the above two liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectral methods since 2006 and has analyzed over 1300 samples! Recently the California Department of Public Health added two new methods to their certification process. Weck has been approved for EPA 331.0 LCMSMS and EPA 332.0 ICMSMS techniques for low-level perchlorate to 0.1 ug/L in water. Note that these two methods require a sterile sampling procedure using sterile syringe, 0.2 micron filter and bottle. Please contact a laboratory project manager for details.
para-Chlorobenzensulfonic Acid (pCBSA)
pCBSA is a by-product from the manufacturing of the banned pesticide DDT. It is measured at Weck Labs by Ion Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (IC/MS/MS) with a reporting limit of 1 ug/L.
Ultra Low-Level Organophosphorus Pesticides by GCMS-SIM
Weck Laboratories can analyze organophosphorus pesticides via Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) mode Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) at 25 times lower detection limits than EPA method 8141A. This later method employs GC/NPD at detection limits of 250 nanograms per liter, whereas the GCMS-SIM method reaches down to 10 ng/L. Target compounds and limits are listed here...