UCT's world-class QuEChERS

UCT QuEChERS products are favored by private and government labs on 6 continents.  With our large selection of high quality products and capability to customize UCT QuEChERS products are constantly in high demand.  In addition, all of our QuEChERS products are supported by our superior technical team.

QuEChERS was originally developed by Anastassiades and Lehotay, et al. in 2003, for the extraction and analysis of moderately polar to non-polar pesticides from fruits and vegetables.  At the request of the USDA, UCT became the first commercial producer of QuEChERS kits.  Since then, QuEChERS has been expanded to include the extraction of a huge variety of analytes from nearly every agricultural commodity.
As the scope of QuEChERS has expanded, so has the range of QuEChERS products and applications offered by UCT.  The most novel of our developments is ChloroFiltr®.  ChloroFiltr® is used in the dSPE clean-up step to remove chlorophyll from the QuEChERS extract.  Without ChloroFiltr®, analysts would be forced to use graphitized carbon black (GCB) which also removes planar pesticides.  ChloroFiltr® only removes chlorophyll without removing pesticides.  A second product unique to UCT is the QuICK QuEChERS Push-Thru cartridge.  The cartridge contains magnesium sulfate anhydrous and PSA.  Recoveries are comparable to the traditional dSPE product, but extracts are remarkably cleaner.  With the use of a disposable syringe to “push” the QuEChERS extract through the cartridge, QuICK QuEChERS is much faster than dSPE and a centrifuge is not required.

UCT at Florida Pesticides and Residue Workshop

UCT will be presenting at this year's annual  FPRW meeting (Florida Pesticide Residue Workshop) TradeWinds Island Grand, St. Pete Beach, Florida  July 15th-18th.  Accompanying Michael Telepchak, FPRW president elect, will be Mike Kofel, Don Shelly, Jessica Robertson and Dr. Brian Kinsella.  UCT will be presenting work on the Determination of Carbendazim in Orange Juice by QuEChERS and LC/MS/MS Detection , Determination of PAHs in Fish by QuEChERS Extraction and Dual Layer SPE Cleanup, and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Incorporating Ceramic Homogenizers in the QuEChERS Extraction Method.

As part of the meeting, UCT is having a lunch seminar “Strong or Weak Ion Exchange: Their Impact on Extraction Outcomes” which will be given jointly by Michael Telepchak and Dr. Kinsella. This seminar will greatly assist analysts in their use of solid phase extraction for producing highly efficient methodologies in food testing facilities. Dr. Kinsella will also be discussing the extraction and analysis of dye stuff used in fish samples. This methodology employs the UCT CCX column technology.  As UCT is highly regarded in the area of applications, materials and equipment involved in Quechers and Solid Phase Extraction.   Don Shelly, Mike Kofel, Mike Telepchak, Jessica Robertson and Dr. Kinsella will be on hand at the UCT booth (#38-39) to help and assist with queries regarding food testing analysis throughout this conference.  Please stop by and say hello, and join UCT at the Lunch Seminar.

UCT to give QuEChERS talk and more at Midwest AOAC Meeting

UCT Food and Environmental Technical Specialist Don Shelly will be making three presentations at the 31st annual Midwest Section AOAC International Meeting and Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, June 4 –7.  Don will be speaking on “An Improved Method for the Determination of Haloacetic acids and Dalapon in Water”, “C18 Sorbents and QuEChERS Clean-up:  Are Variations in Pesticide Recoveries Manufacturer Dependent?” and “Modified QuEChERS Procedure for the Analysis of Bisphenol A in Canned Food Products”. 

Visit www.midwestaoac.org/2012.html for more information.

QuEChERS & Beyond Across The Pond

Michael Telepchak, President and CEO of UCT Inc., will be giving his award-winning presentation, QuEChERS & Beyond, at The Food and Environmental Research Agency (FERA) in Sand Hutton, York UK. The talk is set to take place on April 16th, 2012 at 2pm.  This talk is being presented in conjunction with UCT's distribution partner in the UK,  Presearch Ltd.  Please contact us at info@unitedchem.com should you require more information.

QuICK QuEChERS

UCT’s QuICK QuEChERS cartridge ECPURMPSMC offers a fast and efficient method for QuEChERS extract clean-up. Processing is simple and saves the need for any shaking or centrifugation steps. To use, a disposable syringe in loaded with supernatant and a QuICK QuEChERS cartridge is fitted on the end using the Luer tip. The supernatant is pushed through the cartridge directly into a sample vial; the sample is now ready for GC or LC analysis. The QuICK QuEChERS cartridge significantly reduces handling while increasing laboratory through-put. Each UCT QuICK QuEChERS cartridge contains 110 mg anhydrous MgSO4 and 180 mg of PSA.

In comparative studies with traditional dispersive SPE, QuICK QuEChERS showed excellent recovery and RSD. Click to see results.

UCT presenting at Pittcon 2012

Don Shelly, Technical Specialist for UCT, will be speaking at Pittcon 2012 in Orlando, Florida. The topic will be C18 Sorbents and QuEChERS Clean-Up: Are Variations in Pesticide Recoveries Manufacturer Dependent? Don’s presentation will begin at 3:35 PM in room 307A at the session Food Science: Applications. Don will also be the Session Chair. He invites all Pittcon attendees involved in food testing to attend this important session. It will take place Sunday, March 11th at 1:00 PM.

Carbendazim in Orange Juice extraction

Carbendazim in fruit or fruit juice is easily analyzed using a QuEChERS method. With this method, clear extract, excellent recoveries (average recovery of 101% for three spiking levels), and a low LOQ of 5 ng/mL was achieved. This method is applicable for the determination of Carbendazim in real orange juice samples.

Don Shelly to speak on Food and Environmental issues

UCT's Food and Environmental specialist, Don Shelly, will be presenting at the Orange County Water District (OCWD) workshop in Fountain Valley, California on February 8, 2012. Topics will include The Chemistry behind Solid Phase Extraction with an emphasis on current drinking water methods and Enviro-Clean: Products Designed to Save You Time and Reduce Costs. Please contact Don at ext. 219 or Bill Leavitt at ext. 184 for more details.

UCT at AOAC International 2011

At this years annual meeting of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) in New Orleans, UCT will be represented by our Environmental Products Manager, Don Shelly, and one of the International Sales Team, Hocine Omari. As UCT has a vast experience in the analyses performed by International/ National, State, and County environmental facilities, Don and Hocine will be on hand at the UCT booth to offer assistance with solid phase extraction, QuEChERS methods, and applications. Visitors to the booth will be able to learn more about the UCT products manufactured to the highest quality. These products will ensure that the best analyses can be performed. Better quality products means cleaner extracts which lead to clean chromatograms, better recoveries, and reproducibilities over a wide range of matrices and analytes.

Wang develops modified QuEChERS method for Bisphenol A in foods

Dr. Xiaoyan Wang, Research and Development Scientist at UCT, has developed a simple and effective QuEChERS approach for identifying and determining Bisphenol A concentrations in canned and jarred food and beverages. A summary of Dr. Wang's work and the resulting application can be read by clicking here.

"The Chemistry of QuEChERS" to be presented in Belgium on Dec. 2nd

UCT's Environmental Product Manager, Don Shelly will be presenting a talk, "The Chemistry of QuEChERS" at the Trends in Organic Analysis Workshop in Grobbendonk, Belgium on December 2. The workshop is presented by the Analytical Chemistry Section of the Royal Flemish Chemical Society (KVCV).

UCT attending AOAC International (September 26-29)

As the market leader in the provision of SPE/QuEChERS materials, methods and applications, UCT members will be attending the forthcoming AOAC International meeting in Orlando, Florida. (September 26-29 2010) This meeting brings together environmental scientists from around the world.

UCT is proud of its record in the development, application, and innovation in the area of solid phase sorbents for environmental testing laboratories and will be present to discuss the newest approaches and innovations. UCT will be represented by Don Shelly and Hocine Omari, two of UCT's most experienced representatives. Together Don and Hocine will be on hand to answer any questions, help with queries, and assist scientists at any level in the wide field of environmental analysis.

NEMC 2010 Washington, DC

At this widely recognized meeting - National Environmental Monitoring Conference (NEMC) 2010, UCT representatives (Don Shelly and Michael Kofel) are attending to demonstrate products and materials developed by UCT scientists for environmental testing and analysis.

As UCT is the world leader in SPE/QuEChERS products, it is proud to be associated with this prestigious event. As an aid to scientists in this area of analyis, both representatives are available to discuss current issues and the successful solutions provided by UCT, and also demonstate the new video on one of UCT's most successful analytical methods i.e. The Analysis of Oil and Greases employing UCT's widely acclaimed Environmental range of SPE products.

QuEChERS and the Gulf Coast Oil Spill

In the aftermath of the recent Gulf Coast Oil Spill, concerns are being raised about the quality of water, food, wildlife contaminations in the area.

UCT is the world leader in Environmental/Food Analysis Products and can provide services in the areas of Solid Phase Extraction as well as QuEChERS approaches for the GC, GC-MS, and LC-MS/MS instrumentatal analysis to the highest standards.

As the innovators of QuEChERS we can offer government, environmental, contract, and other reglatory facilities the most effective procedures, methods and materials for the determination of such compounds as Oil and Greases, PCB, PAH and other organic contaminants, pollutants in waters, food (seafood/ other consumables), soils/sludges using conventional and dispersive SPE over an extensive range of sorbents. For our full range of environmental analyses materials visit www.unitedchem.com or call 1-800-385-3153

QuEChERS poster in France the week of June 20th

Next week one of our Environmental specialists will be presenting our QuEChERS poster at The European Pesticide Residue Workshop (EPRW) June 20-24 in Strasbourg, France. Stop by and say hello as we will be exhibiting with our French distributor, SDS.

Come visit us at Pittcon in Orlando, FL, February 28th – March 4th at Booth 2127.

We will be exhibiting our environmental and agricultural testing products, including QuEChERS and Universal sample prep cartridges, used for extracting pollutants from waste and drinking water following EPA methodologies such as 1664A, 525, 521, 8330, and 548.1. Other products on display will include well plates, derivatizing reagents, GC liners, and manifolds.

**For our international distribution partners, we invite you to join us on Tuesday, March 2nd for a lunch and learn on our environmental product line.**

New QuEChERS Kits Available

UCT now offers extraction mixes for all of the popular QuEChERS methods in individual Mylar pouches. Empty 50 ml plug seal cap centrifuge tubes in Styrofoam are also included with each kit.

2009 FPRW - Product release

UCT was busy this week attending the 2009 FPRW meeting (Florida Pesticide Residue Workshop) in St. Pete Beach, Florida. We were there to introduce our new ChloroFiltr product for QuEChERS and pre-packaged salts for QuEChERS extractions. Several paper and posters were presented mentioning the many successful applications of UCT's QuEChERS products.

QuEChERs in Wine now available

We are excited to announce a new method has been posted for QuEChERs in wine! Check it out in our sample prep application database.






The compatible products are as follows:

ECMSNA50CT (50 mL centrifuge tube, 8 g anhydrous MgSO4 & 2 g NaCl)
ECMPSCB15CT (900 mg anhydrous MgSO4, 300 mg PSA &150 mg GCB)