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...
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. 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...
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...
Organics Clean Room
Room 329
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. Both the Metals and Organics Clean Room labs are equipped with bench top glove boxes that provide an additional level of filtration. These labs allow researchers to study the impacts of very low levels of contaminants on the environment.
In this lab:
- Researchers wear special disposable outfits to ensure that contaminants are not brought into the labs.
- The Organics Clean Room was constructed without exposed plastics. Exposed materials can release low level contaminants which could then be detected in the samples.
- Researchers place their hands inside boxes to do their sample preparation to ensure that no contamination reaches the samples.
