Increasing Pesticide Extraction Efficiency from Wet Samples
Aaron Kettle, Thermo Fisher Scientific, discusses increased pesticide extraction efficiency from wet samples at NACRW 2016.
12 Jan 2017
Editorial article
Increased pesticide extraction efficiency from wet samples
direct response to customer feedback
Aaron Kettle Thermo Fisher Scientific
In an interview filmed at NACRW, Aaron Kettle, Product Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific, discussed the development of Thermo Scientific™ Dionex™ ASE™ Prep MAP, a proprietary polymer, designed to increase the pesticide extraction efficiency from wet samples with the Thermo Scientific™ Dionex™ ASE™ 350 Accelerated Solvent Extractor system.
Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE), a cross-industry technique, relies on high temperature and high pressure levels for fast extraction of analytes. The system was originally designed for the analysis of solid samples, and its extraction efficiency is limited in the presence of water, which can co-extract with the non-polar organic solvents used in the system. The development of the Dionex ASE Prep MAP comes in direct response to customer feedback highlighting this issue, with the aim of increasing the extraction efficiency for wet samples.
Aaron describes that the Dionex ASE Prep MAP’s unique formulation results in effective moisture removal from samples in a variety of ionic strengths, and ASE conditions. A further benefit is that the technique is not hampered by some of the common limitations seen in traditional drying methods, such as clumping or precipitation, resulting in an effective drying technique.
With the addition of Dionex AS Prep MAP, the team has successfully expanded the analytical capabilities of the ASE system dramatically. Aaron states that samples containing up to 85% water, such as grapes and tomatoes can now be tested, increasing the application range of ASE, to include food residue pesticide analysis.