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Ecosystems Exposure Analytical Laboratories
 State-of-the-Art Analytical Laboratories:
Scientists conduct a variety of chemical analyses.
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EPA's laboratories in Athens house a suite of instruments to support ecosystems exposure research. For example, researchers can separate complex environmental mixtures and identify unknown environmental contaminants using a high resolution mass spectrometer linked to a gas or liquid chromatograph and/or a mass spectrometer. Investigators interested in DNA analysis and sequencing have access to a MJ Research BaseStation-51. A 600 MHz wide-bore nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer equipped with a triple resonance, cryogenic probe for enhanced sensitivity offers the capability to analyze liquid, semi-solid, and solid samples; and a scanning probe microscopy system provides the ability to topographically image inorganic, organic, and biological surfaces at nanoscale resolution using both scanning tunnelling and atomic force microscopy. Also available is an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) system consisting of a Hewlett-Packard (HP) 5890 Series II gas chromatograph (GC) coupled through a combustion interface and cryogenic water trap to a Fisons Optima IRMS, a Fisons NA 1500 elemental analyzer (EA), and a Fisons MD 800 quadrupole mass spectrometer. In the GC/IRMS mode, this system is capable of simultaneously determining natural abundance level carbon isotopic ratios and the electron impact spectra of individual compounds emitted from a capillary column. In the EA/IRMS mode, it can be used to determine the 13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios of plant and animal tissues, soils, and sediments. To collect samples in the field, researchers have access to a CME-75 drill rig capable of installing monitoring wells and of performing deep-core aquifer sampling and core extrusion.