ICP QQQ mass spectrometer with LC and GC

• Subject Area: Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 462920888

The instrument allows the measurements of 1.) the concentrations as well as of the speciation of elements (e.g. arsenic, selenium, vanadium, mercury) 2.) trace elements (including rare earth elements) with very low detection limits and 3.) particle size distributions and the particle metal content. Those measurements will be carried out on real environmental samples (soil, water, plants, sediments, particles, organisms) as well as on samples collected during various experiments and will thus allow a considerable scientific progress in environmental science.Such an instrument is currently not available at the entire BUW. This is the reason why the planned scientific studies cannot be performed on-site until now. The instrument will be used by several teams belonging to various faculties as well as by international collaborators. The required human resources, the analytical expertise as well as the technical infrastructure are available. Prof Rinklebe (use percentage 65%) will use the instrument to elucidate the processes of mobilization and formation of speciation of trace elements in frequently flooded soil under dynamic redox conditions. The planned research activities will significantly enhance our basic understanding about the biogeochemical behavior and cycles of trace elements in the environment. Since several of those elements are toxic for humans and the living environment the associated risks can be better assessed, evaluated and finally forecasted. Prof Bornhorst (use percentage 20%) will use the instrument 1.) to quantify the total metal content in biological matrices, which is important for the interpretation of molecular biological data, and 2.) to perform the speciation analysis using LC-ICP-MS/MS, which will provide information about metabolic processes (toxification / detoxification). The measurements of elements in single cells and nematodes allow getting deeper insights into the individual biological variability. Prof Benter and Dr Kersten (use percentage 15%) plan to use the instrument 1.) for detecting metal aerosols in micro-spark-discharges, 2.) for developing selective ionic-molecular-reactions in double reaction direction and 3.) for plasma-spectroscopy as they depend on diverse operating conditions such as the charge of samples. The last two issues are closely related to the works of the teams of Prof`s Rinklebe and Bornhorst.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: ICP-QQQ-Massenspektrometer mit LC- und GC-Kopplung
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Bergische Universität Wuppertal
• Leader: Professor Dr. Jörg Rinklebe