Department of Analytical Chemistry Analysis

Head of the department

Professor Tatyana S. Ulanova, PhD, DSc

Certificate of accreditation of the laboratory center №ГСЭН.RU.ЦОА.224 till 26.03.2013

The department includes:

• Gas Chromatography Laboratory
• Liquid Chromatography Laboratory
• Elemental Analysis Laboratory
• Physical Factor Analysis Laboratory
• Nanomaterial and Fine Particle Analysis Laboratory

Main Research Lines

1. Methodical support of bio-medical investigations of chemical compounds, in order to minimize adverse impacts and improve the efficiency of hygienic measures.

• 1.1. Organic compounds determination in human biological media

The research is carried out using state-of-art equipment, providing high sensitivity and selectivity of determination:

• "Crystal – 2000 M" gas chromatograph, equipped with a hardware and software system and an autosampler;
• "Crystal-5000M" gas chromatograph with a Dani Hiss 86.50 headspace sampler and different types of detectors (FID, ECD, TID) and capillary columns, with various types of sample preparation based on extraction, derivatization and analysis of the equilibrium vapor phase, etc.;
• Agilent GC/MSD 7890A gas chromatograph with the mass-selective detector and a thermosorber;
• "Millichrome-5" Agilent 1200 HPLC chromatograph with different types of detectors, derivatization, and different types of solid phase extraction for sample preparation.

The research performed:

• The development of physicochemical highly sensitive and selective techniques for the determination of organic compounds in human bio-samples (blood, urine, bile, gastric juice, etc.),
• The determination of regional background levels of chemical compounds in bio-samples of representative patient samples,
• The performance of screening tests of chemical compounds in human bio-samples,
• Bio-medical research on the impact of chemical compounds on human health (children and adults), using the developed advanced physicochemical techniques and regional background levels:

• Monitoring of the concentration of chemical compounds in human bio-samples (blood, urine, bile, etc.),
• The assessment of the efficiency of treatment and prophylaxis over the pre- and post-tre
atment period, according to the levels of contaminants in human bio-samples,
• The chemical analysis of bio-samples in employees working in hazardous environments.

• 1.2. The Determination of Heavy Metals and Microelements in Human Bio-Samples

Testing is carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry, using a PERKIN-ELMER-3110 atomic absorption spectrometer and hollow-cathode lamps, which provide highly selective determination, an Agilent 7500сх ICP-MS, which allows the determination of 70 elements with absolute selectivity. The analysis of fine particulate matter and nanoparticles is performed using a Microtrac S3500 tri-laser particle analyzer.

The research performed:

• The development of advanced physicochemical highly sensitive and selective techniques,
• The determination of heavy metals and microelements in environmental media and human bio-samples, within the reference range,
• The development of nanoparticle analysis methods in the fields of nanotechnologies and the assessment of nanoparticle-containing product safety,
• The development of methods for determining the composition of fine particulate matter fractions,
• Industrial emission inventories,
• Air quality assessment at the boundaries of the exclusion zones of industrial companies, in residential areas and public and residential buildings,
• Industrial emission air quality assessment and the measurement of aerodynamic parameters,
• Chemical analysis of drinking water, surface waters and ground waters, and
• Chemical analysis of soil for such metals as cobalt, chromium, lead, manganese, nickel, copper and iron.

The research is performed using the following equipment:

• The Microtrac S3500 tri-laser particle analyzer is a system characterized by high accuracy, the capability to analyze a wide range of nanoparticles and the reproducibility of analysis results. These help understand true shapes and sizes of nanoparticles in solid and liquid samples;
• The Horiba LB-550 Dynamic Light Scattering Nanoparticle Size Analyzer measures particle size from 1 nm to 6000 nm. The Horiba analyzer uses a highly sensitive photo multiplier tube, which is capable of immediately collecting signals, generated by a sample, and provides a highly accurate analysis of medium size particles as well as of multi-modal distributions.

The research performed:

• The development of nanoparticle analysis methods for investigations in the fields of nano-technologies and the assessment of nanoparticle-containing product safety, and
• The development of methods for determining the composition of fine particulate matter fractions.