Simple, Quick & Low Cost 6-Position Parallel Channel, High Throughput Automated Sample Cleanup for POPs Analysis

Automation & Innovation for Sample Preparation
Poster Presentation

Prepared by R. Addink, T. Hall
Fluid Management Systems, 900 Technology Park Dr, Billerica, MA, 01821, United States


Contact Information: [email protected]; 617-393-2396

ABSTRACT

The continued interest in Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), furans (PCDFs), biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) has led to a variety of systems for the cleanup of complex sample matrices. Manual techniques have been improved with both semi-automated and fully automated approaches.

Reasons for this include a) POPs sample processing is labor-intensive and prone to error. b) Compliance with regulatory procedures and accreditation requirements can result in a lengthy method validation effort. c) Strict quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) requirements apply, and sample matrices can be very complex. d) Native background interferences can be orders of magnitude higher than analytes. Therefore, in most cases elaborate sample cleanup is needed.

An automated system was developed with a multi-pump and a sample processing unit. This unit can be used to process six samples in parallel and can be run unattended. Attributes: simple to run, fast (25-30 min), closed system with low chance of native cross-contamination, use of certified pre-packaged columns with no native background, low energy costs (multi-pump only), and choice of various column kits (size of acid silica column varies depending on amount of lipid in sample).

The system uses a rotary workstation and a 6 channels parallel (multi-) pump to perform the entire sample cleanup in two stages. It uses three columns: acidified silica of variable size (fat removal capacity 0.15-7 g), alumina and carbon. The columns can be stacked on top of each other to form a column assembly. Solvents used are hexane, 10% dichloromethane in hexane, dichloromethane, and toluene.

The recoveries for 13C labeled PCDD/Fs and PCBs are comparable to those obtained with more expensive and modular cleanup equipment and demonstrate that with a simple automated system very good results can be obtained. In addition, the system can also be used for OCPs and EPH cleanup.