Bureau of Pesticides
Pesticide Laboratory Section
The primary mission of the Pesticide Laboratory Section is to provide analytical support services to the pesticide programs of the Division of Agricultural Environmental Services. The Laboratory analyzes samples of pesticide product formulations and pesticide tank mixes to determine if they meet label guarantees. In addition, the Laboratory is equipped to test for pesticide residues in samples from a variety of environmental matrices (e.g., soil, water, vegetation, air) in support of FIFRA compliance/misuse investigations and for water quality monitoring studies.
With a staff of 16 chemists, technicians and support positions, the Laboratory annually analyzes approximately 2,000 samples involving over 75,000 sample determinations per year. The laboratory has an extensive Quality Assurance/Quality Control program and plans to seek accreditation from the ISO/IEC under the ISO 17025 guidelines.
Instrumentation/Equipment
- Gas Chromatography (GC/ECD, GC/FID, GC/FPD, GC/NPD, GC/Headspace)
- Liquid Chromatography (LC/PDA, LC/Post Column Fluorescence and Ion Chromatography)
- Mass Spectrometers (GC/MS - Quadrupole, GC/MS - Ion Trap and LC/MS - Quadrupole, LC/MS - Ion Trap)
- LC/MS/MS Triple Quadrupole
- Purge/Trap GC/MS
- Thermal Desorption GC/MS
