Analytical Laboratory

The Analytical Laboratory in the Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Durham, NH provides analytical services for several Research Work Units located in Durham and is managed by Jane Hislop of NE-4352. The Laboratory performs a wide range of inorganic analyses on different sample matrices including water, soil and plant tissue. Facilities include three separate laboratories. Each room is dedicated to specific activities - acid washing, sample digestion and extractions, and analytical equipment.

Major equipment includes:

• Varian Vista Simultaneous, AxiallyViewed CCD inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer (ICP-AES) for metals
• 4 channel Technicon/Scientific Instruments continuous flow system (CFS) for anions and ammonium in water samples, total nitrogen in plant samples
• Shimadzu TOC-5000A for total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon and dissolved inorganic carbon in water samples
• Metrohm-Peak 761 Compact Ion Chromatograph using Metrosep C 2 150 cation column, Metrosep A Supp 5 150 anion column and Star-Ion A300 anion column
• Antek Nitrogen Detector for total dissolved nitrogen in water samples
• Scientific Instruments Block Digestor for total anions and cations digests for plant samples
• Milestone MLS 1200 Mega microwave for total cation digests for plant and soil samples
• Solid sample preparation including 2 wiley mills, jaw and disk mills, and shatterbox (some located at HBEF)
• Olympus BH-2 petrographic microscope with automated point-counting stage
• Centurion mechanical vacuum extractor for soil extractions
• 2 Beckman pH meters
• Hach One Combination pH electrodes for soil samples
• Broadley-James pH electrodes for water samples
• Cole-Parmer Instruments Conductivity meter 1481-60 for water samples
• Support equipment of drying ovens and muffle furnace for LOI

All samples for research analyzed in this facility follow QA/QC guidelines that include documentation of blanks, certified standards, various reference materials and check samples obtained from NIST, Canadian Certified Reference Materials, AccuStandard, ULTRA Scientific, Inorganic Ventures, and SPEX. The laboratory has participated in various comparative sample exchanges with university laboratories and has developed specific reference materials when none were available.