Agilent Technologies has announced today it has created a specialised training programme to address the current melamine crisis in China.
The programme will be available in early October and is part of Agilent University, a multifaceted education programme for Agilent's customers in China.
The four-day training programme will cover melamine-testing methods using new, specialised sample-preparation components on gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), liquid chromatograph (LC), and liquid chromatograph/triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (LC/MS/MS) instruments.
It will be offered in Agilent training centres and customer sites in China.
Within days of the melamine outbreak in China, Agilent began to provide core melamine-testing products and expertise to testing organisations.
Initial demand has been for instruments and sample-preparation materials.
Sample preparation uses a solid-phase extraction method where contaminants are isolated from food samples prior to analysis.
Agilent scientists worked closely with Chinese chemists to develop the sample preparation method needed to separate melamine from dairy products.
Melamine is an organic chemical commonly used in plastics and fertiliser.
It can be added to milk and other food products to create a false increase in the measurement of protein content.
Melamine is being blamed for widespread formation of kidney stones and cases of kidney failure throughout China.
