| Accepted for presentation in the following SYMPOSIUM at #ACSPhilly 2016: Recent Advances in Remediation Strategies and Technologies for the Cleanup of Hazardous Waste Sites |
 |
| PRESENTATION TYPE: Oral Only |
TITLE: Headspace GC/PID for on-site screening of soiland water at hazardous waste sites |
| AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): John N. Driscoll1, Jennifer L. Maclachlan2 |
| INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Centerville, MA, United States. 2. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States. |
 ABSTRACT BODY: Abstract: Headspace screening of VOC’s in soil and water samples in the laboratories is a common practice to prevent high level samples from contaminating the GC/MS. The screening of soil and water samples in the field using a headspace photoionization detection (PID), as a Level I field screening tool, has been a common practice that has been in use for more than 25 years. A battery operated portable gas chromatograph (GC) offers Level II field analysis with the ability to detemine the exact species and concentrations of the contaminants offering real-time laboratory quality data in the field. The real advantage to using both Level I and Level II sreening methods is to speed up the processing of samples once the contaminants have been identified and reduce the number of samples sent to the laboratory. Low ppb levels of detection include most contaminants including TCE and PCE. A portable GC can run for 6-8 hours on the batteries and can accommodate 30M capillary columns that are easily interchangeable. The general purpose column is a 30M x 0.53 mm x 3 micron film methyl silicone column that separated based on boiling point. The thick film column will also separate gases as well as volatile liquids. This is an ideal tool to help clean up hazardous waste sites more rapidly. |
Four times in the past seven months I have given presentations on science outreach: Rochester Local Section of the American Chemical Society, Pacifichem, the Materials Research Society and the American Chemical Society Publications webinar. In each of these presentations I told the story of how I got started with my science outreach in my own community of Cape Cod. This is story of being connected to my Northeastern Local Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS) National Chemistry Week Coordinator who became my friend and science outreach mentor. I met Christine Jawork-Lopes at the October 2010 meeting of NESACS. The guest lecturer that evening was Al Hazari, who became another inspiration for me. I'd gone to the meeting that night to ask the Chair to sign my science café funding proposal for International Year of Chemistry mini grants. My proposal was well received and I committed to organizing not just one but four science cafes during the International Year of Chemistry 2011! I'm easily convinced and up for a challenge-it's just my personality. Christine or Chris as we call her at NESACS, gave me some materials to get me started for a small-scale hands-on activity I was planning to do at a local after school program at the Cape Cod YMCA the following week. This is what sparked our friendship and subsequent mentorship. Once I found out that her students at Emmanuel College call her 'Dr. J-Lo' I did, too. 
was impressed by her level of dedication and attention to detail-having the volunteers run all the experiments in advance to avoid any issues at the NCW event. |
| Kids making their own hand-sanitizer-replicated from the NCW Boston event at the Cape Cod Science Café Healthy Kids event Materials and inspiration provided by Dr. J-Lo. Photo by Randy Weintraub. |
In 2011, Dr. J-Lo and her team at the Museum of Science Boston and the Boston Children's Museum, developed chemistry activities related to kids health that won NESACS a Chemluminary award (awarded in 2012 for the 2011 activity) for the 'Most Creative National Chemistry Week Celebration Using the Theme'. See the cover of the NESACS Nucleus (right) and read the article here: http://www.nesacs.org/pub_nucleus/2012/Oct2012.pdf |
| T-Shirt design by Dr. J-Lo's daughter, Cassie in 2015 |
In 2012, Dr. J-Lo asked me to come take photos at NCW. The theme was Nanotechnology and her show-stopper was a Carbon Nanotube model. She joked that if I couldn't get this photographable moment into Chemical and Engineering News then we'd never get anything into it! Ours was a sure winner and we made it into the highly competitive NCW roundup (see left). 
A truly pivotal moment in my science outreach was participation in the American Association of the Advancement of Science Family Science Days in 2013. I'd obtained an Innovative Project Grant on behalf of the ACS Division of Small Chemical Businesses to conduct an Entrepreneurial Career Workshop. Encouraged by a fellow ACS colleague, George Ruger, to reserve an outreach table at the event, I obliged. Dr. J-Lo connected me up with her contacts at the Museum of Science, who provided materials and personnel and this combination coupled with my father's colleagues from Suffolk University allowed us to forge a formidable relationship with the Boy Scouts. This is what led to our Chemluminary award winning 'Wicked Cool Autumn Welcome' with the Cape & Islands Boy Scout Council of America. This successful Cape Cod NCW event was the precursor for 'STEM Journey' which will, in 2017, mark it's fourth consecutive year.  |
| Family friends flanked by my Abby (left) and Dr. J-Lo's Cassie (right) 2011 NCW at MOS Boston |
Part of my attraction towards Dr. J-Lo was that she too, is a working mom who volunteers for her professional society. Our kids are the same ages and have similar interests such as sharing in their mother's science outreach events and Girl Scouts. Additionally we found ourselves with similar hobbies, like running for instance. We met up after we'd both run the Boston Athletic Association 10K in 2014 to take a photo and show off our '10K bling'. At the Fall National Meeting of the ACS in 2014 we ran on Saturday morning and again at the same meeting for the ACS Younger Chemists Committee 5K. 
It was such a pleasure to see Dr. J-Lo receive the Henry A. Hill Award in October 2015. There are very few people who embody the spirit of Henry Hill in leadership, professionalism and outreach and my dear friend and mentor, Dr. J-Lo certainly do. Dr. J-Lo is a true Chemistry Ambassador. Read more about this award and the amazing Dr. J-Lo here.
| To be presented at the American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting in August 2016, Philadelphia, PA ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME: Fracking: Economics vs Environment-Invited,Oral |
| ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: PRESIDENTIAL |
| PRESENTATION TYPE: Invited Oral |
| TITLE: Reducing the environmental footprint of methane from fracking operations |
| AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): Jennifer L. Maclachlan1, John N. Driscoll1 |
| INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States. |
ABSTRACT BODY:  Abstract: Shale has become a major source of fuel in the US and that brought a booming economy to a number of states and allowed more gas for industrial usage thereby reducing pollution. With the recent reduction in fuel prices, it may be difficult to make reasonable profits on these operations. There are environmental issues associated with hydraulic fracking including the waste water (chemicals added to keep the pores open and the gas flowing) methane leaks from fractures in the shale, and leaks into the ecosystem (groundwater, marshes, drinking water, etc.). Neighbors are concerned with methane getting into wells, drinking water, and marshes or rivers nearby. To reduce the loss of methane, the leaks have to be found and plugged and nearby aqueous sources have to be tested and monitored. We have developed a portable GC with a flame ionization detector (FID) that weighs about 6 pounds and is easy to use, This can measure ppb levels of methane with a precision of +/- 5%. A head space method will allow the detection of low ppb levels of methane in soil or water, This will allow methane leaks to be found and tracked to their source. If the leaks are found and repaired, it could solve the environmental issues and perhaps allow more methane to be collected.  |
ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME: Advances in Analytical Separations-Oral |
| ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: ANYL |
| PRESENTATION TYPE: Oral |
|
| AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): John N. Driscoll2, Jennifer L. Maclachlan1 |
| INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Centerville, MA, United States. 2. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States. |
 |
Accepted for presentation at ACS Philly August 2016 ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME: General Posters-Poster |
| ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: ENVR |
| CONTROL ID: 2511284 |
| PRESENTATION TYPE: Poster Only |
| TITLE: Comparison of mercury in water analysis using cold vapor AA and gold preconcentration/PID |
| AUTHORS (FIRST NAME, LAST NAME): John N. Driscoll2, Jennifer L. Maclachlan1 |
| INSTITUTIONS (ALL): 1. PID Analyzers, LLC, Centerville, MA, United States. 2. PID Analyzers, LLC, Sandwich, MA, United States. |
| ABSTRACT BODY: Abstract: One popular method for the analysis of mercury (Hg) in water is EPA Method 245.2 which uses the reduction of Hg salts to Hg0 vapor with a strong reducing agent. The detection of Hg0 is by cold vapor atomic absorption (CVAA). Hg0 has an ionization potential (IP) of 10.4 eV and can be detected at low ppb levels with the 10.6 eV lamp in our photoionization detector (PID). The reaction of mercury (Hgo) with gold preconcentration (GPC) can be used to concentrate the Hg while removing any potential interferences. The Hg0 is desorbed from the amalgam by rapidly heating to 500oC, This amalgamation reaction turns a non specific Hg method into a specific and more sensitive one. We will describe our work on the comparison of these two methods for the analysis of ppb levels and ppt levels of Hg in water in this presentation. |
ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM NAME: Combatting Science Mis- and Dis-Information ABSTRACT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM AREA NAME: CINF CONTROL ID: 3910009 PRES...
