Automated solid phase extraction instrument for the analysis of complex environmental and forensic samples

提出了一种用于从复杂样品中制备和提取感兴趣化合物的自动化固相萃取（SPE）仪器。该设备是一种多样化的仪器，将应用于骨骼组织样本的药物和中毒的法医分析，以及有机金属化合物和农药的环境样本的分析。所提出的设备对于分析方法开发和正在进行的表征法医背景下骨骼组织中药物处置和水生环境中重要污染物（例如，沉积物、水生生物）。这项研究对于开发用于死亡调查的分析方法至关重要，其中遗体已经分解到部分或完全分解的程度。在这些情况下，骨骼组织（矿化骨和/或骨髓）分析可能是毒理学分析的唯一选择。由于缺乏这方面的基础研究，目前没有经常使用这一方法。拟议的研究计划将解决这个问题，通过在法医背景下的骨骼组织中的药物浓度的表征。拟议的研究对于了解农药和汞等其他毒素在自然环境中的命运也很重要，这对环境资源管理和补救至关重要。

An automated Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) instrument for the preparation and extraction of compounds of interest from complex samples is proposed. The device is a diverse instrument that will be applied to the forensic analysis of skeletal tissue samples for drugs and poisions, as well as the analysis of environmental samples for organometallic compounds and pesticides. The proposed equipment is critical for for both analytical method development and ongoing research characterizing drug disposition in skeletal tissues in a forensic context and the fate of important pollutants in aquatic environments (e.g., sediments, aquatic organisms). This research is vital to the development of analytical methods for use in death investigations where the remains have decomposed to the point of partial or complete skeletonization. In these cases, analysis of skeletal tissues (mineralized bone and/or bone marrow) may be the only option for toxicological analysis. This methodology is not currently used with any regularity as a result of the lack of basic research in the area. The proposed research program will address this problem through characterization of drug concentrations in skeletal tissues in a forensic context. The proposed research is also important to the understanding the fate of pesticides and other toxins such as mercury in the natural environment, which is critical to environmental resource management and remediation.