Ion Chromatography for Environmental Analysis

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This grant will support the purchase of one Ion Chromatograph that will be used for environmental analysis including air and water analysis of anions and cations. Ion chromatography is an analytical technique to separate ions and polar molecules based on their affinity to an ion exchanger. An aqueous sample is injected, and a liquid mobile phase carries the sample through an analytical column. Ions are attracted to the material in the column (stationary phase) because of its opposite charge. Ions interact at different strengths with the stationary phase, which causes them to have different residence times within the column, creating separation of ions. Each ion exits the column at a different time and the quantities are measured as they pass through a detector. Ions are identified by their residence times. Advantages of ion chromatography include the ability to detect multiple anions or cations in a single sample run and high matrix tolerance. Five NSERC funded researchers have collaborated on this proposal from the Departments of Geography and Biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. The faculty members do not have access to an Ion Chromatograph at their university and the urgent and essential need of this equipment has received additional financial support from the Dept. of Geography and the Office of the Vice-Principal Research. Anion and cation analysis will be used to support NSERC funded research on spatial and temporal variation of urban air pollution with diffusion sampling; sea ice-related ions to reconstruct past Arctic climates; flux, transit time and turnover of nutrients and contaminants in urban water; training and validation of remote sensing approaches for water quality monitoring; and linking microbial community dynamics to environmental conditions. We expect that during the 15-year lifespan of the ion chromatograph, this equipment will support the training of at least 400 HQP.