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Showing posts from May, 2014

Spring 2014 in the Northeastern Local Section of the American Chemical Society with @pidgirl & @pidguy

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The context of this blog post originally appeared in my May 2014 PID Analyzers, LLC Monthly Newsletter I 've seen several friends and acquaintances at various recreational and other community activities around town and they are amazed at the amount of *stuff* I've been doing lately-of course they are seeing it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I have to admit, I'm impressed by it too. This particular cluster of American Chemical Society activities began on March 29, 2014 with our  STEM Journey: Space Lab to Zero G  joint event with the Cape & Islands Council of the Boy Scouts of America at Cape Cod Community College. Jack and I were on the Organizing Committee for this event whose planning began last August. It evolved into an astronaut themed event after we booked the two astronaut keynote speakers. We came up with the idea at one of our early committee meetings after determining that an astronaut speaker would bring in the public. It is apparently difficult to

2014 SE Massachusetts STEM Network Resources for Educators Expo

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Here I am earlier this week at the 2014 Southeastern Massachusetts STEM Network Resources for Educators Expo hosted by Bridgewater State University . This is the third consecutive year that I have participated in this event as a member of the   Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society  NESACS  Public Relations Committee, showcasing resources that ACS offers to teachers and professional development programming that NESACS provides during National Chemistry Week ( Connections to Chemistry ) and NEW in 2014 at Cambridge Science Festival . In 2012, this event was designed for students and my father, Jack Driscoll, did a great write-up on it. The format last year was the same as this year, where several professional development workshops are occurring simultaneously and the vendors are ready with resources to hand out to the teachers.  Interesting observations from yesterday: 1) I ran out of my ACS Middle School Resources handouts-Most of the teachers I talked to

#ACSsanfran with @pidgirl and @pidguy

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Jennifer Maclachlan ( @pidgirl ) and Jack Driscoll ( @pidguy ) Cape Cod April 2014 Jack and I have a hearty technical program planned at #ACSsanfran in August 2014. We will be presenting work in five technical divisions of the American Chemical Society including: ANYL, SCHB, AGFD, ENVR, and ENFL. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Learn more about the meeting here . Sunday Morning August 10, 2014 ACS DIVISION OF ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY ANYL ORAL SESSION: Advances in Separation Full Day Session  Title:   New technique for the detection of ppb levels of lead in drinking water by HG/GC/PID Presenting author:  Jack Driscoll Abstract Body:  The EPA has recently reduced the action level for lead in drinking water from 25 ppb to 15 ppb. Since Pb +4  forms a stable hydride that has an ionization potential of >10 eV, it can be detected using a photoionization detector (PID) with a lamp energy of 10.6 eV. We have shown previously (1) that hydride generation PID c

Analytical methods for various in-field measurements of methane and arsenic in hydraulic fracturing operations

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Jack and I were invited to give this talk  in the American Chemical Society Division of Energy  and Fuels #ENFL Technical Program at the Fall National Meeting in San Francisco, CA 2014. Learn more about attending this conference here . Session: Advances in analytical methods for petroleum upstream applications Date: Tuesday August 12, 2014 1:30pm Title:   Analytical methods for various in-field measurements of methane and arsenic in hydraulic fracturing operations Presenting Author: Jennifer Maclachlan , Dr. Jack Driscoll , PID Analyzers, LLC , 2 Washington Circle, Suite 4, Sandwich, MA Abstract Body:  There are occupational and environmental health and safety issues related to petroleum upstream applications such as those associated with hydraulic fracking including chemical exposure of workers during hydraulic fracturing operations as well as the wastewater, methane leaks from fractures in the shale and leaks into the ecosystem including but not limited to gr

Mock HazWaste Site/Emergency Response Activity at University of Rhode Island

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I had the opportunity to attend and observe the mock hazwaste site emergency response activity yesterday at the University of Rhode Island (URI), where our long-time client, Corey Briggs of Environ, was conducting the final exam for the course he teaches:  GEO 590 - Environmental Hazards and Response.  L to R: Corey Briggs, Jennifer Maclachlan and Pete Bonk at URI mock hazwaste site emergency response activity   We answered the Call-to-Action that our New England Local Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (NEAIHA) put out last Fall seeking equipment donations for this course: GE 590. We donated an HNU PID  Model 102 photoionization detector to URI (green hand-held analyzer shown right). This unit was used throughout the course and during the drill to take ambient air measurements, to measure the concentrations of the chemicals from the drums and for leak detection from the "abandoned" drums.  Students "suiting up" for t

Analysis of low and sub ppb levels of inorganic arsenic in fruit juices

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PID Analyzers has developed a new sensitive technique, hydride generation/gas chromatography/photoionization (HG/GC/PID), for the analysis of low and sub ppb levels of inorganic arsenic (As +3 and As +5 ), in fruit juices. An example of the technique is shown in the Figure below: Learn more about this exciting application by contacting Jack Driscoll or attending our talk at the 248th American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Francisco August 12, 2014 on the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Track titled: New Analytical Method for Low Level Detection of Arsenic in Food and Beverages . 

A Modified Analytical Method for the Determination of Arsine at Low ppb Levels by HG/GC/PID

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The session "Innovations In IH Sampling and Analysis",   PO131  took take place on Wednesday June 4, 2014  from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM Convention Center 214C Jennifer Maclachlan presenting at Innovations in IH Sampling and Analysis San Antonio, TX June 4, 2014 PRESENTATION TYPE:  Podium CURRENT TOPICS:  Sampling and Laboratory Analysis TITLE: A Modified Analytical Method for the Determination of Arsine at Low ppb Levels by HG/GC/PID 3pm ABSTRACT BODY Objective:  The OSHA method for arsine involves the collection of arsine (PEL = 50 ppb) on a charcoal tube, desorption with nitric acid and analysis by graphite furnace/atomic absorption (GF/AA). The GF/AA is a complex and difficult technique that is often used for ppb analyses to obtain better sensitivity. We propose to replace the GF/AA method with a more sensitive method that replaces the readout method with an easier and more sensitive technique. Methods:   Since nitric acid (HNO3) is used to desorb the arsin