Environmental Laboratory
Mass Spectrometer Installed on a Bus for Mobile Environmental Monitoring
Apr 11 2008
The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks in Quebec, Canada uses the system to perform real-time, mobile analysis of organic and inorganic environmental contaminants in the air, ground and water.
Ministry personnel collaborated with Thermo Fisher and its strategic partner Phytronix Technologies, a Canada-based company, to upgrade an obsolete mobile laboratory system. The TSQ Quantum was chosen because
it met the Ministryâs stringent requirements for limits of detection in the order of microgramper cubic meter, even in real time. Phytronix engineered a stabilization table to dampen motion so the TSQ Quantum can analyze samples while the bus is on the road. A dampening table was
necessary because the mass spectrometer requires a stable environment during analysis.
The Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantum with ESI source was designed to analyze gaseous samples using the APCI mode. Using Phytronixâs Laser Diode Thermal Desorption technology (LDTD) it will also be possible to analyze any sample from any state (gaseous, liquid or solid). With LDTD
the samples are desorbed indirectly by infrared laser diode, and gas phase molecules are introduced into the APCI region where ions are transferred into the TSQ Quantum for analysis.
AMinistry laboratory has used themobile TSQ Quantumto identify and quantify thousands of gas contaminants in the air (including aldehydes, alcohols, acids and chlorine), as well as to map the distribution of the
contamination. The map identifies the source of the contamination (e.g., the chimney or waste site) and the area over which it spreads. By combining these results with details of the wind, such as direction and force, the laboratory could provide a legal proof of source in order to enforce environmental regulations. Ministry personnel selected
the Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantum because the instrument had the functionality and flexibility required for collecting this critical environmental data.
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