Environmental Residue Analysis

Nowadays, more and more pesticide and drug residues have been found in a broad range of environmental matrices. Many drugs are not completely degraded in the human body, and they are often excreted after slight transformations or in unchanged form (mainly as polar molecules). Many studies have proven that pharmaceutical substances are not eliminated during the water treatment process; their biodegradation in the environment is also difficult. For the safe use of water resources, a detailed chemical analysis of the water bodies in the environment is necessary. Determining the presence of residual drugs in water allows a comprehensive assessment of water quality and predicts the impact on humans. The ubiquitous presence of contaminants like pesticides in the various environmental matrices has become a concern for environmental sustainability and global stability. Pesticides and their degradation products spread throughout the environment and contaminate water, leading to potential risks to humans and the environment. Therefore, estimation of pesticide concentrations is important to protect both aquatic ecosystems and human health.

BOC Sciences offers routine wet chemistry testing of all types of samples, including plant and other environmental matrices and their major metabolites under GLP, including method development and validation. Our experts perform reliable and efficient residue analysis for a large number of different types of compounds each year. Combined with BOC Sciences' comprehensive facilities and high-specification equipment to provide robust and reliable data, we have extensive expertise in method development, GLP method validation and analyte quantification to meet current and new regulatory requirements.

• Pharmaceutical Residue Tracing

Given that the focus of current environmental analysis has been extended from the more classical contaminants to new pollutants classes including pharmaceuticals, BOC Sciences has introduced advanced liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques for the determination of pharmaceutical compounds down to ng/L levels in water and wastewater environmental matrices.

• Residue Analysis of Pesticide

We have established a range of wet chemical analytical methods for residues in environmental media (usually soil or water) for the identification and quantification of relevant pesticide analytes, which may include transformation products. We mainly analyze pesticide, herbicide and fungicide residues in various water sources using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

• Crop residue analysis
• Sample preparation
• Field residue analysis
• Process fraction analysis including breakdown/reaction products

• Exposure assessment studies

• Environmental fate field analysis
• Sample Preparation
• Soil residue analysis

Figure 1. Pesticide residue analysis method in environmental samples. (Giri, K.; et al. 2015)

We have established a series of wet chemical analysis methods to identify the following residues in the environment:

• Anionic Surfactants - Extraction/Colormetric
• Bicarbonate - Titration/Calculations
• Carbonate - Titration/Calculations
• Chloride - Ion Chromatography/Titration
• Cyanide, Free - Colorimetric/Electrode
• Cyanide, Total - Distillation/Colorimetric/Distillation/Electrode
• Fluoride - Ion Chromatography/Ion Selective Electrode
• Chlorine, Free - Colorimetric
• Chlorine, Total - Colorimetric
• Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH - quantitative only) - Hexane Extraction/Gravimetric
• Phosphate (ortho) - Ion Chromatography/Colorimetric
• Potassium Permanganate - Colorimetric
• Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - Colorimetric
• Sulfate - Ion Chromatography/Colorimetric
• Sulfide - Colorimetric
• Tannic Acid（aka Tannin and Lignin) - Colorimetric

Our residue analysis service supports the following application

• Crop processing studies
• Field soil dissipation studies
• Soil accumulation studies
• Environmental fate support
• Ecotoxicology support
• Plant metabolism support

Why Cooperate with BOC Sciences?

• Comprehensive wet chemistry methods for a broad range of environmental sample analysis
• State-of-the-art automated instrumentation that facilitates accurate, rapid and error-free results
• Excellent analyte sensitivity, with reporting limits at or below drinking water & effluent RLs for clean matrices
• Support testings for drinking water, fresh and salt water surface and ground water, sewage, storm water runoff, wastewater, soil, sludge, solids, petroleum liquids, plant and animal tissues