We just released a new ion chromatography suppressor (Thermo Scientific Dionex ERS 500 Electrolytically Regenerated Suppressor) and I thought our blog readers would be interested in learning about the new features of this particular suppressor.

Many times our experts are asked by chemists and researchers if chromatography vials and closures can be re-used after an appropriate cleaning using laboratory dishwashers intended for the washing of lab glassware. To address this question, which turns out to be really important, two of our experts in the United States and the UK conducted a research study and presented the results in a technical note presented in this blog post.

Do you know about the Anthropocene era? It is the current geologic era and is considered to be an era in which humans have made a significant impact on the Earth's ecosystem. While some scientists believe it to have begun with the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, other scientists are arguing for it to have begun with the beginning of agriculture and the Neolithic age, some 14,000 years ago. (Source: Wikipedia page on Anthropocene)

The ion chromatography (IC) application presented in this blog post was the result of a mercury poisoning cluster in the United States in which multiple people in the state of Iowa became ill as a result of taking herbal medicines from India, The researchers dealing with the poisoning contacted our researchers to not only identify the mercury species but also help solve a real whodunit piece.

I recently sent out an announcement about our new vial closure systems and then realized perhaps our blog readers would probably love to try one out for free and not just take us at our word on how much better sealing the new closures provide! (Details on how to order your sample are below.)

This blog post starts a regular feature in our blog: covering our recently released enewsletters and what was popular in a recent issue! Here, we present the top four articles in the August issue of Environmental eNews which were an eclectic mix of topics:  

Our customers in the US food safety analysis business are aware the United States FDA passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2011, which was the most sweeping rehaul of food safety laws in 70 years. The key goal of this reform was to prevent contamination rather than dealing with it after the fact. We thought we would help our customers by providing a comprehensive overview of what the FDA has implemented in its  first year of this sweeping new Food Safety legislation, and explain what’s coming next as well. You can  download our white paper addendum attached to this blog post, titled, Food Safety Modernization Act White Paper Addendum: October 2011 Update. (You can also read several progress reports on the FSMA on the FDA site.)

Recently, we addressed the recently surfaced issue of arsenic in apple juice by developing a highly sensitive method to separate organic and inorganic arsenic in apple juice. There has been some debate on this matter. For example, a Consumer Reports investigation recently revealed elevated levels of arsenic in juice samples. However, the FDA sent two letters to the Dr. Oz Show regarding apple juice and arsenic essentially disagreeing with the arsenic findings revealed by the testing done by Dr. Oz's show.