Waters has announced that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has purchased a Waters Acquity UPLC/Xevo TQ mass spectrometry system.
The system will be used at the Environmental Science Center's Analytical Chemistry Laboratory.
The laboratory provides the EPA with scientific, laboratory, and technical support services for registering and evaluating new pesticides intended for use in the US.
The laboratory is also responsible for developing new multi-residue analytical methods for specific classes of pesticides and their metabolites in foods and feeds.
The new methods are designed to gather more pesticide residue data at lower levels in support of the EPA's mission to protect people and the environment.
EPA scientists selected the Waters UPLC/MS/MS system based on the need for an easy-to-use instrument capable of efficient and accurate measurement of concentrations of pesticides and their degradation products at single-part-per-billion limits of detection.
The Waters Xevo TQ MS is equipped with Intellistart software, which automates the setup and tuning of the MS hardware.
Its Scanwave collision cell technology improves duty cycle efficiency and results in spectra with greater ion signal intensities, thereby enhancing the sensitivity of the analysis.
Finally, the Xevo TQ's multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode of operation improves the ability of the mass spectrometer to measure accurately and precisely large numbers of target analytes in a variety of food matrices at concentrations well below the limits of determination required for surveillance monitoring.
