Our Environmental Isotope Laboratory (EIL) was funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The EIL was installed at GEOTOP/UQAM late 2015.
Our lab possesses two different instruments :
- A PerkinElmer HPLC-FD for an accurate and precise detection and quantification of pesticide molecules. A derivatisation unit is available depending on the molecules we are studying. For low concentrations a fraction collector is also coupled to the instrument.
- A Thermo LC-IRMS for measuring the carbon isotope compositions (δ13C) of the targeted molecules
The chemical/isotope analysis of micropollutants is a fundamental part of our research program and our LC-IRMS instrument is one of the few installed in the country.
While primarily dedicated to the study of micropollutants within our research program, this dual infrastructure (HPLC-FD & LC-IRMS) opens numerous exciting possibilities in transversal fields of research including, among others, forensic sciences (e.g. paleodiet), biology (e.g. amino acids in plant physiology) and air pollution (glyphosate and AMPA in air and rain).
Student training and management of the laboratory are operated by our technician Matthieu Moingt.