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

提出了一种自动固相萃取（SPE）仪器，用于从复杂样品中制备和提取感兴趣的化合物。该设备是一种多样化的仪器，将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。拟议的设备对于分析方法开发和正在进行的研究至关重要，这些研究描述了法医背景下骨骼组织中的药物处置以及水生环境（例如沉积物，水生生物）中重要污染物的命运。这项研究是至关重要的分析方法的发展，用于死亡调查，其中遗骸已经分解到部分或完全骨骼化的点。在这些情况下，分析骨组织（矿化骨和/或骨髓）可能是毒理学分析的唯一选择。由于该领域缺乏基础研究，这种方法目前没有得到任何规律性的使用。拟议的研究计划将通过在法医环境中骨骼组织中药物浓度的表征来解决这个问题。这项研究对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.