New Evaporative Technique Improves Environmental Sample Preparation

Genevac reports on a customer paper that describes the development and advantages of a new evaporative methodology for Mass Spectroscopic (MS) analysis replacing the traditional Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) technique for preparing environmental sampl

In recent years HPLC/MS/MS and UPLC have become the sensitive and specific techniques of choice for the detection of algal toxins in water. While the majority of published studies employ SPE for preparing environmental samples for MS or UPLC analysis, using this methodology can be very time consuming.

In this paper a direct solvent evaporation methodology, using the Genevac EZ-2 evaporator, is evaluated as a means to reduce the lengthy sample preparation process prior to MS analysis and to improve efficiency.

The authors demonstrate that using the EZ-2 for their sample preparation reduces processing time, simplified sample preparation and eliminated variability in percent water of the final solution. They conclude that the direct evaporative sample preparation method offers distinct advantages over SPE by eliminating the sample clean-up step, improving reproducibility, decreasing analysis time, minimising waste generation and being more cost effective. In addition, as minimal sample handling is required using the direct evaporative methodology, this reduces the risk of cross contamination and analyte loss.

To download a copy of the customer article ‘Detection and Quantification of Algal Toxins in Surface Water’ please visit www.spscientific.com/Articles-And-Technical-Papers/. For further information on the EZ-2 evaporator please contact Genevac on +44-1473-240000 / +1-845-255-5000 / salesinfo@genevac.co.uk.

Genevac, part of SP Scientific and located in Ipswich, UK, offers a comprehensive portfolio of evaporators to suit almost any solvent removal application, purchasing budget or productivity requirement. SP Scientific is a leading manufacturer of centrifugal evaporators and concentrators, freeze drying / lyophilisation, temperature control/thermal management, glassware washers, controlled environments, vial washing and tray loading machines. The company sells its products under well-known brands including Genevac, VirTis, Hull, FTS Systems, Hotpack and the recently acquired PennTech. SP Scientific has ISO 9001:2008 registered production facilities in the Europe and USA.