MRI: Acquisition of a LC-High Resolution Mass Spectrometer for Characterization of Environmental Organic Contaminants

工业过程排放的污染影响人类健康和生态系统的健康，减轻其影响需要花费大量的时间、精力和金钱。该项目将使用先进的仪器来表征环境和生物系统中的污染物，从而能够设计适当的缓解战略。它将支持在环境和分析化学、环境工程、环境健康和数据科学方面的本科生、研究生和专业教育和培训；以及(3)促进新的合作和社区参与机会，特别是与地区美洲原住民社区、地方和州政府机构以及影响雨水水质的行业。威斯康星大学塔科马分校主要是一个本科生机构、一个非博士授予机构、一个城市服务机构、一个卡内基社区参与者，以及一个亚裔美国人和美洲原住民太平洋岛民服务机构。它的学生群体由许多代表性不足的少数民族、退伍军人和第一代大学生组成。将获得的系统是一台液体色谱仪-高分辨率质谱仪，特别是一台Agilent 6546 UPLC-QTOF-HRMS仪器。该仪器将用于了解和改进各种形式的污染管理，特别是雨水和道路系统、创新处理材料开发、生态毒理学和生物测定开发以及水消毒。例如，该仪器将用于识别雨水中的有毒转化产物并量化来源。另一个用途是研究城市雨水中持久性有机化合物的氧化，使用高铁酸盐覆膜沙介质和PFAS脱氟。另一项研究侧重于有机污染物在水环境中的去向及其在海洋环境中的发生和影响。由于潜在的环境污染物如此之多，高通量、分析能力和可靠性是研究有效性的关键限制因素。由于产生的数据的丰富性、深度和广度，使用高分辨率质谱学的筛选技术现在已成为环境化学和工程研究的关键方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Pollution discharged by industrial processes impacts human health and the health of ecosystems, and mitigating their effects requires considerable cost in time, effort, and dollars. This project will use advanced instrumentation to characterize contaminants in the environment and biological systems, enabling the design of appropriate mitigation strategies. It will support undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and training in environmental and analytical chemistry, environmental engineering, environmental health, and data science; and (3) foster new collaboration and community engagement opportunities, especially with the regional Native American communities, local and state government agencies, and industries impacting stormwater quality. UW-Tacoma is a primarily undergraduate institution, a non-PhD granting institution, an urban serving, a Carnegie community engaged, and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution. It has a student body comprised of many underrepresented minorities, veterans, and first-generation college students. The system to be acquired is a Liquid Chromatograph-High Resolution Mass Spectrometer, specifically an Agilent 6546 UPLC-QTOF-HRMS instrument. The instrument will be used to understand and improve management of various forms of pollution, especially for stormwater and roadway systems, innovative treatment materials development, ecotoxicology and bioassay development, and water disinfection. For example, the instrument will be used to identify toxic transformation products from stormwater and quantify sources. Another use is to study the oxidation of persistent organic compounds in urban stormwater using ferrate-coated sand media and PFAS defluorination. Yet another study focuses on the fate of organic pollutants in the aquatic environment and their occurrence and impacts in the marine environment. With so many potential environmental pollutants, high throughput, analytical capacity, and reliability are critical limiting factors to research effectiveness. Because of the richness, depth and breadth of the data generated, screening techniques employing high resolution mass spectrometry have now become key methodologies for environmental chemistry and engineering studies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.