In the University of Washington Tacoma's Environmental Chemistry labs, air, water, sediment, biota and other environmental samples are processed in preparation for chemical analyses. Pollutants are extracted from each type of sample and the resulting solutions are further purified prior to analysis. More...
Inadvertent contamination of environmental samples during laboratory processing can be a significant problem. The Clean Room labs, shared by the City of Tacoma and University of Washington Tacoma, are used to test for very low levels of metal and organic pollution. The labs were carefully designed with extra ventilation and air filtration to ensure that contaminants often present in the air do not enter the labs and contaminate the samples. More...
In the Metals Prep/Analysis lab, scientists analyze water, wastewater, soil, sediment and sludge for metals. More...
Inadvertent contamination of environmental samples during laboratory processing can be a significant problem. The Clean Room labs, shared by the City of Tacoma and University of Washington Tacoma, are used to test for very low levels of metal and organic pollution. The labs were carefully designed with extra ventilation and air filtration to ensure that contaminants often present in the air do not enter the labs and contaminate the samples. More...
Technicians in the Glass Wash/Reagent Preparation section perform support services that aid scientists with the work being conducted at the Center for Urban Waters. In this area, glassware and sample containers are rigorously cleaned to ensure removal of all contaminants. More...
Instrumentation Lab
Room 324
Advanced analytical instrumentation for identifying and quantifying chemical pollutants in environmental samples is housed in this laboratory. Extracted and processed environmental samples are analyzed and measured here for a variety of volatile and non-volatile chemicals. Chemical standards are also prepared in this laboratory prior to instrumental analyses.
This laboratory supports University of Washington Tacoma research projects and is used to train graduate and undergraduate students as they develop and employ innovative methods to measure chemical contaminants in the Puget Sound.
In this lab:
- Gas chromatograph/mass spectrometers (GC/MS) are used to measure volatile and semi-volatile organic pollutants in a range of environmental samples.
- A liquid chromatograph tandem mass spectrometer (LC/MSMS) measures trace levels of non-volatile organic compounds such as those found in consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides.
