Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Chromatography Quiz #24

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Chromatography Quiz #23 Results

bosePickering Labs would like to congratulate our winners of our last newsletter’s AAA quiz: Wanda Ingersoll from Mississippi Public Health Lab, David Green from Pepperdine University Natural Science Division, Narjes Ghafoori from LA County Environmental Toxicology Lab, and Helene Lachance from Shur-Gain Nutreco!  

They have each won and will shortly be receiving: a Bose SoundLink Color Bluetooth Speaker! A lightweight-compact wireless speaker in a stylish-vibrant color! Connect to any bluetooth device and take your tunes to go! We hope our quiz winners enjoy their prizes for the remainder of the summer and beyond!

Thank you all for your submissions! 
   

 

  

The correct answer to the Polyether Antibiotics Analysis quiz:

It was beautifully answered by one of our winners. Here is their response:

Multiple Choices:

A) Bad lamp

B) Reference Wavelength

C) Sampling rate

D) All of the above

“This appears to be a really bad choice of reference wavelength. The vanillin absorbs like crazy from 200-350 nm. At almost 60g/L the reference absorption will be topped out at >4AU. No DAD detector I know of can handle this. The noise is simply the remaining electronic noise from the 360 nm (plus bandwidth) diodes on the array. The solution is to move the ref wavelength out to, say, 600 nm since the antibiotics probably don't absorb there or, better, turn off the ref wavelength, acquire and store whole spectra, and do post-processing after the analysis when a clear region of the spectrum can be found.”

Chromatography Quiz #24: Glyphosate Peak Shape

What caused the bad Glyphosate peak shape in the troubleshooting (red) chromatogram below?  Simply email your answer as well as your full contact information to Rebecca at rlsmith@pickeringlabs.com by October 1st, 2016 in order to win.  You will receive email confirmation that your submission has been received.  The answer to the quiz and winner congratulations will be published in the next issue (to be anonymous, please notify Rebecca in submission). 

Glyphosate Analysis – Bad Peak Shape

Pinnacle PCX post-column instrument is being used, in a traditional HPLC setup as recommended by Pickering Laboratories.  The reference (blue) signal and troubleshooting (red) signal are overlaid in the chromatogram below.  The quiz question: what is causing the bad peak shape?  

Hint: Please assume the same reagent, column, and method are being used for both chromatograms.

Normal/reference post-column conditions for glyphosate analysis:
Reagent 1: GA116 – hydrolysis reagent
Reagent 2: GA104 with OPA and Thiofluor
Reactor: 36 °C, 0.5 mL
Reagent flow rate: 0.3 mL/min
Injection volume: 100uL
   

quiz_24

 

 

 

 

 

FDA, food, glyphosate, testing, Uncategorized

FDA Announces New Glyphosate Testing in Food

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Maria Ofitserova Ph D. – Pickering Laboratories

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most widely used herbicide in the world. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates Glyphosate and sets residue limits for different crops as well as drinking water.  Recent research, however, has raised concerns about Glyphosate safety and its prevalence in the environment.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) rated Glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” and several studies, including one conducted by Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA), have indicated a massive increase in the number of human urine samples contaminated with Glyphosate over the last 15 years.

The increased use of Glyphosate has been studied as well. According to Bill Freese, a science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety, 50 times more Glyphosate is allowed on corn grain now than was allowed in 1996.  The US-EPA has also increased what it considers to be a safe amount of Glyphosate exposure by a factor of 17.  The EPA's high-end estimate of infant exposure to Glyphosate exceeds the level considered safe for them in 1983, Freese adds.

GlyphosateAs the scrutiny of Glyphosate grows in the United States, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report has criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for not sufficiently monitoring residues of the chemical on foods. This February, the FDA announced testing of Glyphosate in foods including soybeans, corn, milk, and eggs. Meanwhile, consumer groups, academics and testing laboratories have claimed to have detected Glyphosate in breast milk, honey, cereal, wheat flour, soy sauce, and infant formula as well.

The herbicide registration renewal of Glyphosate in the European Union was questioned due to mounting evidence of chronic human exposure and insufficient safety data, especially in children, and a suspected link to cancer.  As of now, the decision on relicensing has been postponed.  Several EU members, such as France, Sweden, Netherlands and Italy, have indicated opposition to renewal of the 15-year license.

With this growing international concern about Glyphosate, additional regulations from the US-FDA and international regulatory agencies are possible in the upcoming months and years.

Pickering Laboratories has over 30 years’ experience manufacturing and selling instruments and reagents for Glyphosate analysis in accordance to the US-EPA Method 547 for Glyphosate Analysis in Drinking Water as well as the AOAC Method 991.08 for Glyphosate Analysis in Environmental Waters. These HPLC methods are based on post-column derivatization technology with florescence detection.  The AOAC Official Method 2002.52 for Analysis of Glyphosate in Crops describes easy clean-up procedures that are successfully combined with Pickering Laboratories’ post-column derivatization for analysis of Glyphosate in crops such as soy, corn, alfalfa, and sunflower seeds as well as vegetables such as tomatoes and broccoli. The analytical method is sensitive and selective, and it can be easily implemented in any laboratory. For further details visit our webpage at: www.pickeringlabs.com   

Please enjoy these excellent additional resources/sources:

http://civileats.com/2016/02/17/fda-to-start-testing-for-Glyphosate-in-food/

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/08/eu-vote-on-controversial-weedkiller-licence-postponed-Glyphosate

http://www.gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16666-german-environment-agency-study-finds-Glyphosate-in-urine

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2987365/almost_all_germans_contaminated_with_Glyphosate.html

 

 

Artificial Eccrine Perspiration, artificial perspiration, Consumer Electronics Show, David Mazawa, Product Testing Solutions, Uncategorized

CES 2016… wait, what?

That’s right, Rebecca and I attended The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This massive show takes over Las Vegas for a whole week. Many of our Product Testing Solutions customers were going to be exhibiting at the show, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to meet our current customers and see if we could interest other companies in our Product Testing Solutions as well. We saw many cool devices being displayed. Drones, virtual reality rigs, augmented reality goggles, fitness tracking gadgets, and smart fabrics were all well-represented.

We decided to focus on the wearable technology section of the show. Any device or material that is worn on the human body would benefit from design testing or quality control testing with our Product Testing Solutions. Wearable technology companies already use our artificial perspiration solutions to see how their electronics or materials will tolerate constant contact with the human body. We have received feedback from customers that testing with our artificial perspiration solution will give different results, when compared to testing with just water. After testing with our artificial perspiration solutions, our customers are confident that their device or material will be able to withstand the harsh environment of the human body.

We met lots of passionate people promoting their awesome products. Many of these people thought we bottled actual perspiration! By the end of the day, Rebecca and I had walked over 7 miles so it was certainly possible for us to collect our own perspiration… However, Pickering Laboratories does not collect actual perspiration. We manufacture artificial perspiration and other body fluids according to industry standard protocols and our own proprietary formula for eccrine perspiration. No humans are harmed in the making of these products.  

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Additional information on Pickering Laboratories Product Testing Solutions can be found at www.pickeringtestsolutions.com.

David Mazawa
david.mazawa@pickeringlabs.com
Technical Support Chemist
Pickering Laboratories, Inc.
1280 Space Park Way
Mountain View, California 94043 USA
Phone: 650-694-6700 ext. 710

Fumonisins, Maria Ofitserova, Method Abstract, Multi-residue Mycotoxin Analysis, mycotoxin, pinnacle pcx, Uncategorized

New Method Abstract MA 249

ma_249Analysis of Mycotoxins is an important part of food and feed safety.  As regulations tighten laboratories all around the world expand their testing capabilities to include analysis for different types of toxic fungi metabolites. Pickering Laboratories has a diverse line of products designed for Mycotoxins analysis, including Pinnacle PCX post-column derivatization system, UVE photochemical reactor and immumoaffinity columns. We also developed several methods for single families of Mycotoxins as well as multi-residue protocols.

Our new Method Abstract MA249 describes fast and sensitive method for analysis of Fumonisins FB1, FB2 and FB3. Fumonisins are derivitized with OPA reagent and detected using Fluorescence detector. HPLC and post-column conditions of this method are aligned with a method being considered by Chinese National Food Safety Standards as new official method for Fumonisins in food.

Uncategorized

Holiday Season Celebrations

How Pickering Labs Celebrates the Holiday Season

Rebecca Smith

The end of the year is always a busy time for Pickering Laboratories.  Not only are we wrapping up all of your orders before the majority of our staff disappear for the holidays, but we also enjoy having a good time around the laboratory.  The two major cornerstones of our December festivities are the formal Holiday Party, held offsite, and the Ugly Sweater and Caffeine Overload party, held right here in the lab!

holiday2016_1Our very own Gloria Garcia does an amazing job coordinating these two events every year, among others.  Second in length-of-employment only to Michael Pickering himself, Gloria has a long history of epic event-planning under her belt.  From Cirque du Soleil and Giants baseball games to waterparks (coworkers and swim suits, isn’t that awkward?!) and picnics, we always are prepared for a good time when we get together. 

The formal Holiday Party is our major offsite social event of the year.  Each employee and their spouse/guest come for a night of tinsel and sequins.  We enjoy hosted food and drink, and we are often treated to an overnight hotel stay or a ‘party bus’ drive up to San Francisco and back.  Always pairing safety with revelry, Gloria ensures that a good time is had by all!  (Not to mention, I always find the best way to properly enjoy a DJ and dancefloor is to celebrate with a champagne toast before the music starts.  At least, that’s one way to cope with the lack of anonymity that comes from working for a company of <20 employees!)

This year, we enjoyed excellent food, drink and ambiance provided by the Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose.  (https://www.hayesmansion.com/)  There was a raffle for gift cards and other fun stuff, a conga line weaving throughout the dining area, and an after-party at the hotel bar for those of us staying overnight.  Everyone was looking so fabulous in their finery that we thought we’d share a few event pictures!  

holiday2016_2holiday2016_3holiday2016_4

On the last day of December before the mass holiday exodus, Gloria arranges our Ugly Sweater and Caffeine Overload party.  Fast becoming a favorite Pickering tradition, the party includes a fancy espresso bar catering service!  (http://www.coffeeconceptsinc.net/)  Rich the barista comes in for several hours in the morning and makes custom lattes, mochas, espressos, and the occasional decaf Americano.  By the time three hours of all-you-can-coffee conclude, the Pickering employees are ready for a white-elephant gift exchange and to vote on the ugliest sweater winner!  

holiday2016_5

Fueled by caffeine and thoughts of the imminent time-off, our party rapidly deteriorates into joking around and gift-snatching (as you can imagine).  There are a great many tricks played during the white elephant exchange and Gloria’s fantastic treats ensure that the “sugar high” stays strong all day long even as the caffeine wears off.

Our employees work very hard in December to fill your year-end orders and to minimize the stocking issues that will come up while they are on vacation.  It is our great pleasure to provide them with humorous and festive ways to let off a little steam while they’re at it. 

Everyone at Pickering Laboratories hopes that you had a happy and healthy holiday season, and that you’re off to a great start on your New Year!  Thank you for your business.

 

AOAC, dietary supplements, Uncategorized

AOAC Meeting

aoac-largeDuring 2015 AOAC International meeting, Maria Ofitserova participated in several panels meetings and discussions.

Stakeholder Panel on Dietary Supplements (SPDS) had a full day meeting addressing several interesting topics. The panel received the updates from the working groups and issued a call for Methods and Experts in areas of analysis of Ashwagandha, Cinnamon, Folin C and Kratom.  Standard Method Performance Requirements (SMPRs) presented by the Tea Supplement working group and  Aloin working group were discussed and approved. SPDS also launched three new working groups (Turmeric, Lutein and Collagen) that were meeting the next day to start reviewing fitness for purpose and standard method performance requirements.

Stakeholder Panel on Infant Formula and Adult Nutritionals (SPIFAN) had a busy meeting on Saturday. The panel got updates on the group efforts to introduce SPIFAN Official Methods to CODEX and other international activities. Of the particular interest during this meeting was the presentation given on Chinese perspective on contaminants in milk and milk powder. The presentation brought better understanding of how regulations and methods approval process works in China. We also heard an update on long-standing issue of Whey protein/casein ratio in infant formula and milk powder.

SPIFAN Expert Review Panel met to discuss several methods submitted for First Action Status, Final Action Status and Dispute Resolution status. This year SPIFAN ERP was named “Expert Review Panel of the Year”.

Pickering is looking forward to continue its work as part of AOAC.

AATCC, AATCC Meeting, Artificial Eccrine Perspiration, artificial perspiration, Uncategorized

AATCC Meeting

aatcc-logo-largeArtificial Eccrine Perspiration and Consumer Goods Testing

American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) is a worldwide association of professionals active in textile wet processing. It was my great pleasure to join the AATCC regional California meeting in San Francisco and meet all of the other new members.  AATCC approved the new chapter, and it will be great to work with these textile professionals more in the near future.  Recently, AATCC also published a great article about artificial perspiration and how it impacts the textiles and wearable technology industries.  I am including more information below, but please check out the article at: http://www.aatcc.org/pub/aatcc-news/newsletters/1015b-story1/

Perspiration mimics have long been used by many industries to “sweat test” products such as textiles, dyes, cosmetics, credit cards, shoe leather, jewelry, and forensic fingerprint I.D., etc. Normally, a sweat mimic is concocted at the time of the test from a formula that varies by industry.  The industry-specific formulas contain only two to four components that represent a specific challenge: corrosion, textile staining, dye bleeding, magnetic strip damage, etc. 

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) describes procedures to test many products in the presence of a sweat mimic. According to Michael Pickering, “we were guided by the multiplicity of such tests to develop an artificial perspiration that can yield reproducible results independent of the test.”

Pickering Laboratories created an eccrine solution that allows standardization across all industries; it is the only formula that can satisfy all test challenges.  To facilitate tests on such materials as leather or cosmetics, where culture growth is the challenge, non-preserved formulas are available. 

Reproducible Results Anywhere, Anytime

A typical example of sweat testing in the jewelry industry is to determine the amount of nickel released by perspiration from alloys of gold, nickel, platinum or palladium, called “white gold.”  The nickel leached from these alloys by natural perspiration can cause allergic reactions. Increasing the amount of platinum/palladium in the alloy helps prevent the release of nickel but steeply increases the cost. The problem is thus to determine the minimum amount of noble metals necessary to keep the level of nickel released so as not to exceed the regulated level.  The test specifications vary by country wherever nickel is permitted.  Since the frequency of allergic reaction to nickel is high, the United States forbids the use of nickel in white gold formulations. 

Reproducible artificial perspiration solutions are paramount to forensic fingerprint investigation. Latent prints are made visible by reagents like ninhydrin that dye amines found in eccrine perspiration. To check that a null result is actually the absence of prints and not the results of test failure, crime scene investigation technicians make a control print of their own finger on a similar surface. To standardize this control print, Crime Science, Inc. offers Swetcheck™ artificial perspiration manufactured by Pickering Labs and dispensed in single-use sterile swabs.

Applications

Consumer products testing laboratories and manufacturers that do sweat testing on materials such as textiles, dyes, cosmetics, credit cards, jewelry and metals, coatings and finishings, polymers, leather, wood, keyboards, and any other testing application that would benefit from guaranteed reproducible results with artificial perspiration.