NSF Study Utilizes LECO GCxGC Technology to Identify Source of Oil Sheens Near Deepwater Horizon Site
This chromatogram obtained using LECO GCxGC technology shows the chemical compounds present in an oil sheen sample. (Image provided by Robert Nelson.)
Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) successfully completed a chemical analysis of oil sheens recently found floating at the ocean's surface near the site of the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The study, funded by the DEEP-C consortium and the National Science Foundation (NSF) found that the oil sheens were caused by pockets of oil trapped in the wreckage of the sunken rig, confidently ruling out concerns that the Macondo well, which was capped in July 2010, might be leaking.
"We were able to determine that the source of the leaking oil at the Deepwater Horizon accident site was not from the reservoir, but instead from the wreckage of the drilling rig," said Robert Nelson of WHOI. "This was accomplished with very state-of-the-art forensic analysis of the oil film at the sea surface using LECO GC×GC instruments at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution."
Registration Closes Sept. 4 for the European GCxGC Symposium
Don't wait to sign up for the European GCxGC Symposium. This two-day program is scheduled for Sept. 17-18 in Parc Valrose, University of Nice-Antipolis, France, and will feature lectures on GCxGC and GCxGC-MS capabilities and method development, from leading academic and industry experts in aroma and flavor, food safety, environmental analysis, and -omics applications.
Click here for more information, including the scientific program, or download the event flyer. You can also call +49-2166-687-305 or email GCxGC@leco-europe.com.
September e-Seminar: The Importance of Using GC-TOFMS for Flavor and Off-Flavor Analysis for Packaging-Related Issues
Join Ray Marsili, a leading researcher in flavor and fragrance chemistry, for a live e-seminar on how GC-TOFMS can be used to resolve "hidden" chromatographic peaks in food samples, resulting in higher-quality spectra and more accurate peak determinators.
Presented Thursday, September 19 at 10 am EST (1600 hours CET)
We had such great feedback on our breakfast seminars at ASMS that we are sharing videos of the following presentations:
Understanding the Chemical Composition on Hydraulic Fracturing (Waste)water Presented by Dr. Lisa Strong of the Biotechnology Institute at the University of Minnesota Click here for video presentation
High Resolution GC-MS for Clinical Metabolomics Applications Presented by Dr. Vladimir V. Tolstikov of Eli Lilly and Company Click here for video presentation
Additional ASMS presentations from LECO are available; click here for more information.
Congratulations are in order for researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who were recently honored with the R.A. Glenn Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). This award signifies the most innovative and interesting technical paper presented at the Fuel Chemistry Division of the 2013 ACS National Meeting.
The award is for the technical paper "Sulfur Group Type Response to an Oxidative Desulfurization Treatment," which utilized two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) from LECO and sulfur selective detection to identify that oxidation of sulfides/disulfides/thiophenes and benzothiophenes, the two common sulfur group types in military jet fuels, can be greater than 95% for high sulfur feeds (1400 ppmw).
Click here for a complete list of authors and to read the entire article.
Analysis for Packaging-Related Issues 
he Chemical Composition on Hydraulic Fracturing (Waste)water
AOAC International Annual Meeting & Exposition