Blog

The coronavirus pandemic continues to cause shortages on hand sanitizers as people are doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Hand sanitizers are hard for consumers to find, but some companies with laboratories equipped for laboratory testing are stepping up to help meet the demands by using their isopropanol and ethanol to make sanitizer.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are typically prepared with isopropyl alcohol, or a form of denatured ethanol, which is the major component of the mixture. The concentration of the alcohol determines how effective the sanitizer is, and it must meet regulatory guidelines. For accurate results with excellent stability for samples containing high level of water-alcohol mixes, Agilent’s DB-624 UI has proven to effectively resolve IPA and EtOH as well as fusel oils and acetaldehyde if that analysis is required. The DB-WAX column has also shown to have a positive impact on the quantification of alcohols in alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

For more guidelines and ordering information, check out our brochure on alcohol-based hand sanitizer analysis.

 

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

The current economic situation revolving around the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to create lasting effects on our economy. Chrom Tech is working to support our customers throughout and beyond the COVID-19 situation. We continue to promote cost and time savings in the laboratory, while also adding to our chromatography portfolio for those who are on the front end of this viral pathogen research.

We’ve categorized all of your COVID-19-related products into one category for easy access on our website. For COVID-19 analysis, our homogenizer spin columns increase yield for analysis down stream by reducing the viscosity of the sample and minimizing sample loss.

As the health experts are recommending antibody testing to identify individuals who have been infected in the past, ELISA assays are becoming more popular and necessary. We’re offering ELISA Well Plates which can be paired with most plate readers, including our featured Accuris SmartReader 96.

Our offerings are economical, easy-to-use products for important research in today’s society. We will continue to stay in touch with current customers and encourage any new/potential customers to reach out to sales@chromtech.com with any questions.

 

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

If you’re looking for Immunoassay Plates for ELISA in your COVID-19 research, we have them available in 96-well and 384-well formats. Our plates are made of clear polystyrene with flat bottoms. The standard footprint of the plates allows for automation to increase your laboratory’s throughput.

Take a look at our ELISA plates for our options.

 

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

A message from the president: Chrom Tech has solutions to reduce your costs and increase efficiency in the lab. Laboratories experiencing these pressures is nothing new, and we’ve been on the front end of improving laboratory efficiency for years.

Spending valuable time putting inserts into vials is an unnecessary use of your resources. Speed up your processes and save time and money with our pre-loaded insert assembled vials. We encourage you to check out our website for various combinations. If you don’t see your particular vial and insert combination, let us know so we can add more to our offerings.

 

 

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

Eliminate unnecessary safety risks, and avoid citations for improper waste containment by utilizing our waste containment system kit. A properly plumbed HPLC system, from inlet, to outlet, to waste is a crucial aspect in ensuring the safety of your laboratory’s employees.

Laboratories across the world are responsible for quickly and accurately reporting research results. According to the CDC, 70% of medical decisions made depend on test results from a laboratory. An inefficient laboratory can cause unnecessary expenses, but also delay research and results and even have detrimental effects on patients.

Chrom Tech offers many tools for increasing laboratory efficiency. Our Porvair Evaporators work quickly and effectively to reduce the time needed to dry-down even aqueous samples. Evaporation takes place with adjustable gas temperature, flow rate, and needle depth to reduce the sample preparation stage significantly in comparison to our competitors’ options. Our latest brochure describes the process with visuals for an easier understanding of how our products can improve the efficiency of your laboratory.

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

Whether analyzing for drugs, forensic evidence, or specific compounds in a specific clinical matrix, accurate sample analysis is important. For example, as the American Chemical Society discusses, “The credibility of the legal system critically depends on forensic tests that are consistent, accurate, and scientifically valid.” If a sample is analyzed inaccurately, serious consequences may occur so it is important that precautions are taken to eliminate margins of error in every step of the analysis.

Pipetting can slow down the process of sample preparation when serial diluting, and user-to-user variability is inevitable. Using the Hamilton MicroLab 600 Series Diluters and Dispensers, your standards can be accurately prepared at lightning fast speeds with optimal accuracy. See why we recommend the Microlab 600 Diluters to increase productivity and accuracy in the sample prep process without jumping into a fully automated liquid handling system

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

As the Cannabis industry grows in the United States, laboratories are required to follow challenging sample preparation and analysis procedures to accurately measure active compounds, according to Cannabis Science and Technology. The accuracy of the sample preparation phase is extremely important, and variability between analysts can be very problematic for laboratories with a manual dilution process. Using the Microlab 600 can reduce the %RSD by more than 50% when compared to hand pipetting.

With any laboratory, time and cost savings are extremely crucial for profitability. Without the hassle and time to prepare and clean up after creating solutions, your laboratory will experience a significant amount of freedom in the schedule for more important tasks.

The Microlab 600 saves time, money, and eliminates the inconsistencies of hand-pipetting without the price tag of a fully automated liquid handling system. Find more information in our Cannabinoid Sample Preparation brochure.

 

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

Chrom Tech is constantly working to make shopping easier for consumers. Replacing the various capillary tubing connections in your HPLC can be intimidating and confusing.

In our latest efforts, we put together a capillary replacement guide for your standard Agilent HPLC systems.

We’ve included tips for choosing the right lengths for the various lines in your system, as well as determining the right ID for the application. There are many options for replacing Agilent capillaries, but our goal is to make the process as painless as possible

If you're looking for a hassle-free column connection, we've got you covered with our InfinityLab Quick Connect and Quick Turn fittings.

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

As women and men age, many face issues that can be treated by hormone replacement therapy, according to the Women’s Healthcare Associates. However, hormone steroids are metabolized differently from person to person, which leads to complexity in treating a patient effectively without increasing a person’s risk for diseases such as cancer, dementia, and loss of bone density. It is important for researchers to be able to quantitatively determine endogenous steroid levels in order to monitor patient health and success with the hormone replacement therapies.

Traditionally, liquid-liquid extraction has been used to extract endogenous steroids from biological sample matrices such as serum and plasma for steroid analysis. This traditional method has proved to be time and labor intensive, often with low levels of recovery. Agilent has shown a quantitative determination of 15 endogenous steroids in human serum by LC/MS/MS, using their Chem Elut S supported liquid extraction. Supported liquid extraction produces higher recovery, and the special synthetic media provides better consistency and higher water holding capacity than standard diatomaceous earth.

 

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

Cannabis products have been marketed as a natural cure-all, leading way to CBD oils, creams, pills, and even gummies that can be found all over stores and marketplaces in America today. If you’ve ever picked up a bottle of CBD oil and read the label, you may have noticed Terpenes listed as an ingredient. 

Terpenes are responsible for the distinctive aroma and flavor of the various marijuana strains. The medical benefits of terpenes themselves are still being researched, as discussed by Chemical and Engineering News but the naturally occurring aromatic compounds are thought to help enhance the healing properties of hemp and marijuana plants.

In August of 2019, The Drug Enforcement Administration announced that they would be expanding the medical research for marijuana in the United States. As the understanding of how terpenes interact in cannabis products and their effects on the end user grows, so too does the need for analysis of residual solvents and terpenes.

Terpenes are naturally occurring volatile isoprenes, which allow for headspace analysis. Agilent scientists are able to rapidly and robustly analyze 22 terpenes in just over five minutes using an Agilent headspace-gas chromatography-mass selective detection (HSS-GC-MSD) system with concomitant flame ionization detector (FID)

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech  to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

In a report by the National Highway Traffic Administration, it was found that an alcohol-impaired driver was involved in nearly one-third of all traffic crash fatalities. Impaired driving can result in several various penalties. Often times, the courts will order substance abuse evaluations, which can include a drug and alcohol urinalysis screening.             

Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) are important biomarkers for monitoring alcohol use. For the court system, there are many advantages to using EtG and EtS, as a positive EtG result indicates that a person has recently been exposed to alcohol, up to three days, even when there is no longer ethanol detectable in the person’s system. According to Restek, EtG and EtS also provide good stability and analytical specificity, along with the long detection window.  

With the Restek Raptor EtG/EtS LC column, Restek has provided fast, 4-minute, dilute-and-shoot LC-MS/MS method that supports high sample throughput. Save time and increase certainty with the definitive EtG/EtS method.

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech  to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

The United States is experiencing an outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injuries (EVALI). In the latest November reports, over 2,000 cases of EVALI have been reported, and over 40 deaths have been confirmed, according to the CDC.

The CDC has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern, as it was found in all the fluid samples collected from the lungs in patients with EVALI. Vitamin E derived oils are sometimes used as a thickening agent or to dilute THC and increase profits. Normally, Vitamin E is not harmful at low levels when ingested or applied as a topical in lotions.  However, when inhaled, this compound could potentially compromise lung functions.

In turn, cannabis labs are interested in screening for Vitamin E Acetate to help evaluate the quality of vaping products and protect the safety of the consumer. Most states that have legalized some form of cannabis have established regulations for potency, pesticides, mycotoxins, and residual solvents, however Vitamin E Acetate is not yet regulated within the market due to the infancy of this discovery.

Restek recently revised their cannabinoid workflow, scientists have added Vitamin E acetate as part of a modified potency analysis on the Restek Raptor ARC-18 column. Restek is continuing to look at other methods for rapidly screening for Vitamin E Acetate as interest in this compound continues to develop.

*While it appears that vitamin E acetate is associated with EVALI (e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injuries), evidence is not yet sufficient to rule out contribution of other chemicals of concern to EVALI.  Many different substances and product sources are still under investigation, and it may be that there is more than one cause of this outbreak.

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech  to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

According to the EPA, PFAS are persistent in the environment and human body, and exposure to these compounds can lead to adverse health effects. Per/Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), can be found in food, commercial household products, the workplace, drinking water, and even in living organisms. 

These are substances that have some or all the hydrogen atoms in an alkyl chain replaced by fluorine giving them uniquely desirable properties for use in industry and commerce. Their wide range of use is what has led to emission into the environment, and the need for analysis.

PFASs such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfanoic acid (PFOS) are ubiquitous, and have been detected in water, soil, sludge, and biota in the parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt) range. As a result, The USEPA has recently issued a combined drinking water health advisory for PFOA and PFOS at 70 ng/L. Several states such as New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina already have public health guideline values varying from 20–400 ng/L for several PFAS including PFOA, PFOS, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) in water.

As denoted by Agilent, PFASs are routinely used in manufacturing processes, so it is possible to have system contamination in the solvents, tubing, fittings, filters, and other parts used in the manufacture and routine operation of a liquid chromatograph. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a fluoropolymer used in all major (U)HPLC systems, and can be a potential source of PFAS contamination during analysis. We provide a solution for reducing the potential sources of PFAS background interference contamination in an Agilent 1260 Infinity II and an Agilent 1290 Infinity II system, to allow sensitive quantification of these analytes.  

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech  to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

The impact of human mental disorders continues to burden the health and wellness of people worldwide. As these disorders become more and more recognized in modern-day living, the number of prescribed antipsychotics (APs) and antidepressants (ADs) continues to increase. According to the CDC, over a fifteen-year time span, the use of antidepressants has increased nearly 65%.

These drugs are prescribed for a wide range of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dysthymia, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and chronic pain. In the forensic setting, due to their abusive potential, the detection of these drugs is critical in determining their involvement in intoxications and suicides. 

In the clinical setting, analysis of APs and Ads in blood or urine is necessary to ensure suitable therapeutic concentration and to monitor patient compliance. It has been reported that the patient’s adherence to prescribed APs is quite low, and thus new clinical recommendations have been released regarding when and how to use urine testing procedures to help monitor adherence. By combining a simple sample preparation procedure and a fast chromatographic elution with the Raptor Biphenyl column, a highly specific and accurate method was established for simultaneous measurement of 28 Antipsychotics and 30 Antidepressant drugs in human urine.

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech  to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

One in seven Americans say they use CBD products, according to a recent study by Gallup.

As the cannabis market grows, interest in more detailed analysis of cannabinoid profiles is expanding because more comprehensive data can be used for strain identification as well as to ensure more accurate potency testing. 

More than 100 cannabinoids have been isolated from cannabis to date. While methods have been published that show the separation of these major cannabinoids, many do not take into account the possibility of interference from other cannabinoids that may be present. 

Additionally, some terpenes have been shown to absorb UV light at 228 nm, the wavelength cannabinoids are typically detected, which can result in an additional source of interference. This is most problematic in concentrates where minor cannabinoids can be enriched to detectable levels that were not observed in the flower. In a study by Restek, it was found that minor terpene interferences could potentially impact the quantitation of CBGA and THCVA if present in high enough concentrations, but the quantitative analysis of these cannabinoids is currently not required. 

California law requires that all cannabis goods must be analyzed to determine and identify the CBD content labeled with total CBD content. However, compounds such as terpenes can interfere with the five most commonly analyzed cannabinoids: tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (THCA), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and cannabinol (CBN).

We have an LC-UV method shown here using a Restek Raptor ARC-18 column to fully resolve 16 major and most frequently observed minor cannabinoids for which commercial standards are available. Baseline separation ensures positive identification and accurate quantitation. All compounds were resolved in a fast 9-minute analysis, making this method suitable for high-throughput cannabis testing labs. In addition, this analysis uses a simple isocratic mobile phase so it is more easily transferable between instruments, compared to more complex methods that incorporate a typical mobile phase gradients or additives.

Chrom Tech is a Minnesota-based, worldwide distributor of chromatography instrumentation and supplies and mass spectrometry supplies. We carry vials, well plates, syringe filters, solvent waste containers and all other critical chromatography and spectrometry supplies. Contact Chrom Tech  to become your preferred supplier of chromatography and mass spectrometry supplies.

  Michelle Iverson, President, Chrom Tech, Inc.

Chrom Tech Expansion: Marketing to the Cannabis Testing Laboratories. 

A note from the President (and second-generation owner):

We are excited to announce the launch of our new webstore, cannabis.chromtech.com.  Our original site, chromtech.com has been around for 25 years and has over 30,000 products available. We continue to add resources and develop that site.  When deciding to enter the cannabis space, our goal was to have a webstore that was technical and easy to navigate.  We started by researching cannabis chromatography workflows and the associated application notes.  We achieved our goal by creating a boutique webstore cannabis.chromtech.com with specific cannabis chromatography workflows. 

Within each workflow, we carefully selected relevant products, thus minimizing confusion and maximizing efficiency for the person in the lab. With over 35 years in business, we have the infrastructure in place to serve the cannabis testing market with new insights.  We look forward to meeting with scientists in Portland, Oregon, as we exhibit at our first Cannabis Science Conference. 

Click here sales@chromtech.com to learn about new technical resources, products, and to be added to our list for new cannabis chromatography solutions.

Benchmark Scientific has been providing research laboratories with innovative, cost effective products and solutions designed to improve laboratory efficiency, safety and results.

Researchers use an Agilent HPLC and Poroshell Column to semi-automate synthetic opioid detection methods.