Urgent replacement of a 23 year old Gas Chromatograph coupled with an Electron Capture Detector to analyze glyphosate and its main metabolite in the environment

以草甘膦为基础的除草剂(GBH)在农达等大田作物中的大量使用对环境和人类健康的影响令人担忧。草甘膦及其毒性更大的主要代谢物AMPA在水环境中得到了广泛报道。然而，由于对复杂基质的分析限制，在不同种植制度下使用GBH后，这两种化合物在农业土壤中的保留及其对大田作物品质、土壤功能和微生物群落响应的影响的知识很少。我们的团队改进了一种强大的分析程序，使用配备电子捕获检测器(GC-ECD)的气相色谱仪来测量所有环境隔间中的草甘膦和AMPA。由于其高灵敏度，电子捕获检测器是测量环境中卤代化合物的首选仪器。基于这种独特的专业知识，我们的团队目前正在运行或已经申请了几个雄心勃勃的项目(NSERC战略伙伴关系、NSERC发现、MITACS、魁北克农业部、加拿大环境新兴污染物)。所有提到的正在进行的项目都集中在为大田作物系统的可持续性过渡寻找解决办法。本提案旨在取代已有23年历史的GC-ECD，以便能够继续在正在进行和适用的项目中对草甘膦和AMPA进行关键分析。由于我们目前使用的设备陈旧而导致的经常性技术问题，我们每天可以分析的样本数量(n=10)和设备运行的天数(平均每周2.5天)都是有限的。这种情况迫使我们的团队限制招收研究生的数量，并拒绝新的合作。因此，我们建议购买一台新的GC-ECD-TCD，配备最先进的先进电子气动控制(EPC)模块和高性能的烤箱温度控制，从而实现最佳的层析，包括峰对称性、保留时间重复性和保留指数准确性。新的GC还具有先进的内置功能，可以监控系统资源和维护警报，帮助更快地确定最终问题。电子捕获检测器极高的灵敏度应该会提高草甘膦和AMPA的检测极限，使我们能够扩大我们对环境中除草剂污染的了解，并开发新的分析方法。最后，新设备将允许学生获得适用于多种环境问题的尖端培训。这类专业知识在被环境咨询公司或制药公司聘用以及填补学术职位方面备受追捧。

The massive usage of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) in field crops, such as Roundupr, is of much concern regarding its impact on the environment and human health. Glyphosate and AMPA, its even more toxic main metabolite, have been widely reported in aquatic environments. However, knowledge about the retention of these two compounds in agricultural soils and their impact on field crops quality, soil functions and response of microbial communities after the application of GBH under various cropping systems is scarce mostly because of analytical limitations in complex matrixes. Our team has refined a robust analytical procedure to measure glyphosate and AMPA in all environmental compartments using a Gas Chromatograph equipped with an Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD). Due to its high sensitivity, an ECD is the first choice to measure halogenated compounds in the environment. Based on this unique expertise, our team is presently running or has applied for several ambitious projects (NSERC Strategic Partnership, NSERC Discovery, MITACS, Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Environment Canada emerging contaminant). All mentioned ongoing projects converge towards finding solutions for a transition towards sustainability of field crops systems. The present proposal aims at replacing a 23-year-old GC-ECD in order to be able to continue perform crucial analyses of glyphosate and AMPA within ongoing and applied for projects. Because of recurrent technical problems induced by the obsolescence of the equipment we currently use, both the number of samples we can analyze daily (n=10) and the number of days per week the equipment is functional (an average of 2.5 days a week) are limited. This situation forces our team to limit the number of enrolled graduate students and turn down new collaborations. We thus propose to purchase a new GC-ECD-TCD with state-of-the art advanced electronic pneumatic control (EPC) modules and high-performance oven temperature control allowing optimal chromatography including peak symmetry, retention time repeatability and retention index accuracy. The new GC also has advanced built-in capabilities to monitor system resources and maintenance alerts helping to identify eventual problems faster. The very high level of sensitivity of the ECD should improve the limits of detection for both glyphosate and AMPA allowing us to extend our knowledge of herbicide contamination in the environment as well as develop new analytical methods. Finally, the new equipment will allow students to acquire cutting edge training applicable to multiple environmental issues. This type of specialized expertise is much sought after for getting employed by environmental consulting firms or pharmaceutical companies as well as for filling academic position.