Vordís Baldursdóttir recently defended her final project for a B.Sc. degree at the University of Akureyri "Development of a method for measuring PCBs in fish with ASE extracts". She worked on the project under the guidance of Ásta M. Ásmundsdóttir, a specialist at Matís.
Recently, a new device was introduced in the Matís laboratory in Akureyri to prepare samples for the measurement of persistent organic pollutants in ASE 300 (Accelerated Solvent Extraction) foods. The device is based on reducing the substances from the sample under heat and pressure. With the new device, it is possible to prepare samples for analysis in a much shorter time than with older equipment.
Once the PCBs have been extracted from the sample in this way, their amount is analyzed by GC-ECD technology. Vordís 'project was entirely carried out in Matís' research facility in Akureyri and was primarily concerned with the development of new measurement methods using the ASE instrument, in addition to which it improved older methods for GC-ECD in order to shorten the analysis time.
The project led to the fact that it is now possible to perform measurements of PCBs in 12 samples so that the results are available approx. 2 days after the extraction begins, but the same number of samples with the older method took approx. 5 days and this method development has therefore led to significant time savings.
The equipment will be used both for samples from customers and for Matís research projects. Vordís will be a summer employee Matís Chemical Research Department in Akureyri and will, among other things, work on PCB measurements.