News from LabRulezICPMS Library - Week 13, 2025

Our Library never stops expanding. What are the most recent contributions to LabRulezICPMS Library in the week of 24th March 2025? Check out new documents from the field of spectroscopy/spectrometry and related techniques!

👉 SEARCH THE LARGEST REPOSITORY OF DOCUMENTS ABOUT SPECTROSCOPY/SPECTROMETRY RELATED TECHNIQUES

👉 Need info about different analytical techniques? Peek into LabRulezLCMS or LabRulezGCMS libraries.

This week we bring you guide by Agilent Technologies, other document by Mestrelab Research and brochure by Shimadzu!

1. Agilent Technologies: Trace Metals in Water & Waste Samples Using an Agilent 7850 or 7900 ICP-MS

Consumable workflow ordering guide for EPA 200.8, EPA 6020A and ISO 17294-2

• Guides
• Full PDF for download

Water quality has a direct impact on the health of all ecosystems, therefore environmental monitoring of water is often subject to strict legislation. 

EPA 200.8 provides procedures for determination of dissolved elements in ground, surface and drinking waters and requires labs to carry out performance and quality control (QC) tests to verify the quality of the data. 

EPA Method 6020A is a performance-based ICP-MS method that can be applied to the determination of over 60 elements in various matrices. Typical sample types include surface water, groundwater, industrial wastes, soils, sludges, sediments, and other solid wastes for which determination of total (acid-leachable) elemental concentrations are required. 

The international standard ISO 17294-2 specifies an ICP-MS method for the determination of more than 60 elements in drinking water, surface water, ground water, and wastewater. The list includes analytes covering a wide concentration range from ultra-trace level to major elements. Analytes include Hg, As, Se, Sb, Ag, Sn, Mo, and Tl, all of which are more stable in solutions that contain HCl. The routine addition of HCl to samples is now possible, as all Agilent ICP-MS systems include the ORS4 collision reaction cell, which operates in helium collision mode to resolve common polyatomic interferences including those formed from Cl. 

Some sample types may also contain novel contaminants such as rare earth elements (REEs), which can form doubly charged ion (M2+) overlaps on some required analytes such as Zn, As, and Se. Agilent ICP-MS systems support a novel half-mass mode which allows simple, automatic correction of the REE2+ interferences.

If you are running water samples, the preferred configuration of Agilent ICPMS is the solution ready 7850. The 7850 will free your workflow from common time traps. The 7850's Ultra High Matrix Introduction (UHMI) system uses an argon stream to dilute samples. Samples with matrix levels up to 25% TDS can be measured without time-consuming and error-prone manual dilutions. The helium collision cell and half-mass correction of the 7850 automatically remove polyatomic and doubly-charged ion interferences. These functions simplify method development and remove a common cause of measurement failure. 

If water samples are only the start of your analysis needs, the Agilent 7900 ICP-MS provides extended capabilities for more demanding applications. The 7900 offers greater flexibility, the industry’s lowest detection limits, and the widest dynamic range to meet all your sample challenges. 

An Agilent ICP-MS system meets the method requirements by providing the highest matrix tolerance for varied water samples, the widest elemental coverage (including Hg, if HCl is added to all samples), the simplest control of interferences using He cell gas, and the widest concentration coverage with the 10 or 11 orders dynamic range detector. 

Agilent 7850/7900 ICP-MS include fully developed methods for regulated and routine methods to save you weeks of method development and documentation time. Preset Methods for EPA 200.8, EPA 6020A, and Drinking Water (with He cell mode) predefine all the required operating parameters.

2. Mestrelab Research: Automated qNMR data processing and analysis in the behind-the-scenes of fragment-based drug discovery

• Others
• Full PDF for download

Bringing new drugs into the market is a complex and long process that often requires several years of investigation and considerable human, technological, and economic resources. In the labs of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, a Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) program has been established for screening and identifying lead compounds with potential therapeutic effects that may serve as starting points for the development of potent drug candidates. 

In their primary screening, researchers in the structural chemistry team rely on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to determine the aqueous solubility and curate a 2860-compound library that feeds multiple research projects. Fragment solubility is one of the most challenging factors in the drug discovery and formulation process as it impacts delivery and bioavailability; so, by performing this first screening, weakly soluble fragments (solubility <500uM) are identified and excluded from the following steps. This process involves spectral acquisition on two 500 MHz spectrometers, processing of thousands of datasets, then manual collection and transfer of data for analysis in spreadsheets – an overwhelming and time-consuming task for scientists that marks only the beginning of a longer discovery process.

From manual process to automation

Carrying on with such a colossal project was impossible without automating parts of the workflow: so much data was generated and needed analysis and interpretation. So, in 2018, the Mnova automation solution (also known as “Mnova Gears” or simply “Mgears”) was adopted by the team to streamline the primary screening steps and improve the workflow efficiency. Mgears is a simple module that can automate complex postacquisition tasks and alleviate the burden of manual analysis by busy scientists.

A time- and resource-efficient screening

Automating the analysis with Mnova Gears has been a game changer for the team; it has allowed them to upscale the high-quality processing and analysis capabilities of Mnova qNMR to increase lab productivity and process robustness. 

While 80% of the high-throughput analysis is now done by the automation engine, only minimal user intervention is required for the reviewing of final results. This has reduced by nearly six times the overall time spent on each spectrum which has allowed scientists to focus on more innovative and challenging tasks that are more suited to being performed by a highly trained specialist.

In addition, the output of the automated process is not only more accurate than when it was done manually, but also nicer and more homogeneous, which saved huge time on preparing manual reports, and significantly improved data management practices.

Decision making: quicker and more confident

One of the best things with Mnova Gears, is that the results are saved into a HTML report that can be quickly checked and exported to other report formats. Compounds that are not soluble at 500uM are rapidly spotted and excluded from downstream studies, while inconsistent and problematic results are loaded into Mnova for a closer inspection, explained Maggie Liu, expert NMR Spectroscopist in the structural chemistry team at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). The Mgears product comes with a nice and handy result viewer that enables sample revision, edition, and reprocessing when needed. So, it becomes very easy to investigate the reason behind a wrong calculation, to correct the spectrum and to update the result.

3. Shimadzu: Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer ALTRACE

• Brochures and specifications
• Full PDF for download

Pushing the Boundaries of Detection 

• Detect trace elements with ease. 
• A combination of optical system design and Shimadzu's proprietary high-speed signal processing technology allows ALTRACE to reach new heights in terms of sensitivity.

Unparalleled Sensitivity 

• Implement batch elemental analysis from the ppm to percent levels. 
• Screen from sub ppm to percent levels. 
• Convenient analysis of liquid and powder samples. 

Escape from Complicated Pretreatment 

• No need for complicated chemical pretreatment before analysis. 
• Direct and simple screening, and also precise. 
• Lower cost and easier operation compared to methods that incorporate pretreatment. 

High Throughput and Efficiency 

• Automatic consecutive analyses of up to 48 samples 
• User-friendly drawer style tray 
• Support for interrupted analysis during measurements