All posts by Pickering Laboratories

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Pittcon 2020 – Taking a Trip to Chicago!

By David Mazawa

Pittcon 2020 was hosted in the “Windy City” of Chicago, Illinois from March 1-5 this year. I was joined by Rebecca Smith and Skip Vo and we had a wonderful time in Chicago! We all hope to come back in the near future.

We used the Pittcon platform to formally launch the Onyx PCX: the newest post-column instrument from Pickering Laboratories, Inc. It was a great opportunity to introduce our latest and greatest post-column instrument to distributors and interested customers from all around the world. Retaining all the best features of the Pinnacle PCX, our new Onyx PCX also supports greater compliance and usability for our customers.

Our redesigned marketing literature was also on display, including our brand-new catalog. All materials are free to download from our website here:

     – 2020 Catalog
     – Onyx PCX Brochure
     – Post-Column Brochure 
     – PTS Brochure

Pickering’s “best in show” giveaways enticed many show attendees to venture closer to our booth. Once drawn in, scientists and engineers alike were fascinated by our growing Product Testing Solutions line. It was great to see lots of interest in our Artificial Saliva products especially.

Our daily raffle was a big hit and we would like to congratulate the following raffle winners: Leonard Ver Vers of NALCO Water, Brian Edwards of Neurocrine, and Glendon Parker of UC Davis. Each of them is now enjoying an Onyx Whoop Strap and 6-month subscription to the Whoop online health and fitness community – perfect timing help our winners to stay moving during a shelter in place order.

Pittcon also gave us the chance to take our newest employee, Skip Vo (Purchasing Agent), on his first trip to Chicago! Skip and I took time before the conference started to see Chicago’s sites and have a classic Chicago steak dinner to celebrate. Skip was a big help with booth management and said he really enjoyed meeting our customers and vendors alike. Thank you for your help, Skip!

Rebecca Smith and Skip Vo showing off the colorful Pickering booth!
Rebecca Smith and Skip Vo showing off the colorful Pickering booth!

I know I speak for all the staff at Pickering Laboratories when I say I’m looking forward to mingling with the scientific community once again at Pittcon 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana from March 6-10, 2021.

If there is anything I can do to provide service or support for you and your laboratory between now and then, please reach out to me at support@pickeringlabs.com without hesitation.

product testing, Product Testing Solutions

PTS Product Updates for April 2020

 
Dear Valued Customer,

We continue to receive almost-daily inquiries from customers for new types of Product Testing Solutions, resulting in both proprietary and open market formulations being created. As our product line expands, we will be reaching out to you via our Newsletter for periodic product updates and announcements. You can also check our PTS website for up-to-date product information.

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CORROSION TESTING FOR METALLIC MATERIAL IN DENTAL DEVICES
This Artificial Saliva is formulated according to ISO 10271-2011 standard procedure. ISO 10271-2011 specifies the method for corrosion testing for metallic material in dental devices. The solution should be stored in the refrigerator and has a 1-year shelf life. The pH of the solution is 2.3.
1700-0313 Artificial Saliva, ISO 10271-2011, Not Stabilized, each (200 mL/bottle)

MODIFIED SALIVA FOR TESTING PRODUCTS FOR CORROSION, COLORFASTNESS AND DISCOLORATION
This ready-to-use solution closely resembles the mineral composition of natural saliva and can be used for testing a wide variety of products, including dental metal alloys. The modified formulation has added Potassium Thiocyanate to achieve better stability at higher pH and make it more similar to human saliva This product is manufactured to customer-requested pH and it can be stored at room temperature.
1700-0314 Artificial Saliva, Modified Fusayama/Mayer, Custom pH (up to 6.5), Stabilized, each (200 mL/bottle)

CORROSION RESISTANCE FOR GOLD ALLOY, NEW BUFFERED FORMULATION
This formulation is used to determine corrosion (tarnishing, oxidation and surface penetration) resistance for gold alloy coverings on watch cases and accessories, including bracelets when they are permanently attached to the case. The solution is at pH 4.7 per ISO 3160 specifications and buffered for long-term pH stability.
1700-0537 Artificial Perspiration, ISO 3160 with added Pyruvic acid, buffered, Stabilized, each (200 mL/bottle) (minimum order quantity of 2 bottles)

SWEAT-SEBUM EMULSION, NEW LARGER FORMAT
Inspired by the ASTM D4265-98 method for staining, Eccrine Perspiration is emulsified with Artificial Sebum. Prepared without dust/dirt for a more universal application, this emulsion mimics non-exercise induced skin surface film liquids (SSFL). As SSFL, it can be used to test any topical use product or to test the stability of any article that will come in contact with human sweat. This product requires refrigeration to remain in solution and prevent rancidity.
1700-0549 Artificial Eccrine Sweat-Sebum Emulsion each (950 mL)

ASTM D2322-00 ARTIFICIAL PERSPIRATION
This solution is made according to ASTM D2322-00 and is used to test the resistance of shoe upper leather against perspiration. The pH of the solution is 7.5 and it is stable at room temperature.
1700-0550 Artificial Perspiration, ASTM D2322-00, Stabilized, each (200mL/bottle)

URINE FOR TESTING STERILE URETHRAL CATHETERS, NEW LARGER FORMAT
Artificial Urine is prepared according to the DIN EN 1616:1999 standard procedure. DIN EN 1616 specifies the method used to test sterile urethral catheters. This ready-to-use solution should be stored frozen to avoid bacteria growth. The pH of the solution is 6.6. 1700-0603 Artificial Urine, DIN EN 1616-1999, Not Stabilized, 19.8L

SUBSTITUTE OCEAN WATER
Substitute ocean water is prepared according to official ASTM method D1141-98. This product can be successfully used in a wide variety of tests where solutions simulating sea water are required, such as oil contamination testing, detergent evaluation and corrosion testing. The pH of the solution is 8.2 and it is ready-to-use. Product is stored at room temperature. Please inquire about different sizes.
1700-0804 Synthetic Hard Water, custom hardness, ASTM E1945-02, each (200 mL/bottle)

Contact Pickering Laboratories’ Technical Support team at support@pickeringlabs.com with any questions or comments.

Best regards,
David Mazawa

Abby Loney, artificial perspiration, State Science Fair

Congratulations to Young Scientist Abby Loney, Bronze Award Winner in the State Science Fair!

By Maria Ofitserova

At Pickering Laboratories, we are always excited to support young scientists as they explore their interests. Let us introduce Abby Loney from Moorhead, Minnesota. Abby’s science fair project idea was to investigate the durability of ballet pointe shoes and to see if some non-traditional materials could provide increased longevity. 

It is not a secret that hard working ballerinas put tons of effort into their training and performances, resulting in sweat-soaked pointe shoes! So, Abby wanted to study the effect of sweat on different materials. Abby’s search for sweat solutions that could be used for testing brought her to Pickering’s artificial perspiration products. She’s in good company – several well-known footwear companies have followed the same line of thought and currently use Pickering artificial perspiration products to test the materials used in design and production of footwear insoles, leathers/uppers and soles.

After Abby contacted our technical support chemists about her proposed project, Pickering was happy to donate the artificial perspiration needed to complete her science fair work. We left off by wishing Abby luck in her experiment and future presentation at her local Science Fair.

Recently, Abby shared with us that over the last couple of months, her project earned the ASM Materials Education Foundation Award, as well as 3rd place in Middle School Division at the Regional Science Fair, then finally earning the Bronze Award at the Minnesota State Science Fair! These are really great accomplishments and we would like to wholeheartedly congratulate Abby on her wonderful work.

If you would like to learn more about this project and whether or not manufacturers of ballet pointe shoes should change their ways, please take a look at Abby’s presentation:
https://youtu.be/AMANaauFzYM

Congratulations again, Abby! Best of luck with all your future scientific adventures!

Chromatography Quiz

Chromatography Quiz #35

Chromatography Quiz #34: “What the Brij?”- RESULTS

Pickering Labs would like to congratulate all of our winners for our previous newsletter’s Chromatography Word Puzzle:

Ben Covert from New Mexico State Laboratory Division, Jim Balk from Nebraska Public Health Environmental Lab, Naomi Herrera from New Mexico Department of Health, Joy Gottlieb from New Mexico Department of Health, Josiah Hakala from Minnesota Department of Health, Jiufeng Fan from GSK, Tom Schneider from Suffolk County Water Authority, Narjes Ghafoori from Los Angeles County Public Health Laboratory.

Winners will soon receive: Amazon eGift Card! ($40.00 Value) Happy online shopping!

Congratulations to our quiz winners!

Thank you all for your submissions!

Chromatography Quiz #35 – Bad Carbamate Chromatography

Correctly answer the question below and win a prize! Simply email your answer and your full contact information to Rebecca at rlsmith@pickeringlabs.com by June 15, 2020 in order to win. You will receive email confirmation when your submission is received, and the troubleshooting answer and winner congratulations will be published in the next issue (to be anonymous, please notify Rebecca in submission).

Below you will find the method details for the Carbamate Method. What could be causing the poor peak shape and low response?

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Analytical Conditions
Column:
          Carbamate Column P/N 0846250
          (250 x 4.6 mm), C8, 5 um
Flow Rate: 
          1 mL/min
Column Temperature: 
          42 ºC
Mobile Phase: 
          see Table 1

Post-column Conditions
Post-column System: 
          Pinnacle PCX or Vector PCX
Reactor 1: 
          100 ºC, 0.5 mL
Reactor 2: 
          Ambient, 0.1 mL
Reagent 1: 
          Hydrolysis Reagent CB130 or CB130.2
Reagent 2: 
          100 mg of OPA, 2 g of Thiofluor in
          950 mL of CB910
Detection: 
          FLD, Excitation 330 nm, Emission 465 nm
Injection Volume: 
          10-20 uL

Full method details from our website here.

 

 

 

New Products, Onyx PXC

Introducing the Onyx PCX!

By Rudy Suez

Click to enlarge

As the end of the year approaches, the leaves change colors and the days get shorter, here at Pickering Laboratories we are preparing for some exciting changes in our own familiar climate. We’re all extremely proud and excited about our next big release, the Onyx PCX. The Onyx PCX is our sleek next generation upgrade to the Pinnacle PCX that many of you are familiar with, and it delivers the same seamless operation and optimized analysis each and every time you run a sample. The Onyx PCX is the newest addition to our integrated family of post-column derivatization instruments, chemistry and support instrumentation.

The Onyx PCX is amazingly simple and intuitive, producing results you can rely on. The Onyx PCX’s reliable performance, elegant design, ease of use, and minimal maintenance make it the optimal Post-column system for research and analytical testing laboratories, as well as pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The Onyx PCX is capable of connecting to an array of HPLC units to meet your testing needs. Pickering Laboratories still offers the only instrumentation optimized for the analysis of Amino Acids, Carbamates, Glyphosate, Mycotoxins, Antibiotics and many other applications.

Pickering Laboratories commitment to quality and providing customers with technical solutions means we maintain a robust application-specific quality system, testing every instrument and consumable exactly as our customer will be using our products.  It also means we pride ourselves in being a leader in innovation by developing, producing, and delivering safe, effective, high quality post-column instruments and consumables that meet or exceed our customer expectations, on time, every time. We achieve these objectives through our chemists’ precision and expertise as well as adopting industry best practices and operating in the spirit of continuous improvement. 

Lastly, at Pickering Laboratories we are well aware that our success is derived from the mutual respect and support from our industry peers and long-time customers. So, thank you! We appreciate all of your feedback during the last decade; you have directly impacted our Onyx PCX instrument improvements.  To learn more about how the Onyx PCX differs from the Pinnacle PCX, please read David’s article where he discusses exactly that! 

To learn more about the new Onyx PCX please consider reading our exciting new brochure!

Uncategorized

Onyx PCX Launch – Press Release

PICKERING LABORATORIES INTRODUCES ONYX PCX – A CULMINATION OF NEARLY 40 YEARS OF POST-COLUMN INNOVATION

Next generation post-column derivatization instrument delivers on promise of “Guaranteed Chemistry”

Mountain View, California, Nov 25, 2019 – Environmental, pharmaceutical and feed laboratories now have access to the newest model of post-column derivatization instruments – the Onyx PCX.  Every component of this system has been optimized for post-column applications, thereby improving ease of use, reliability and ruggedness of analytical instrumentation. Onyx PCX is used in the analysis of amino acids, glyphosate, mycotoxins, antibiotics, cannabinoids and a variety of other applications. This latest instrument is part of the commitment Pickering Laboratories has to complete application support. Together with analytical columns, high-purity reagents, mobile phases and methods, the Onyx PCX post-column system supports Pickering Laboratories’ guarantee of method performance and chromatographic separation.

The Onyx PCX features a precisely programmable convectional column oven with temperature gradient capabilities and a fully inert flow path with ceramic syringe reagent pumps, PEEK electronic valves and PTFE reactor coils. All main components of the system are accessible from the front panel for ease of monitoring and maintenance. Following the tradition of Pickering Laboratories’ derivatization instruments, the Onyx PCX can be connected to any HPLC system, greatly expanding the LC’s capabilities.

“We are also very excited about new software features, such as extensive record-keeping capabilities and automated heaters calibration,” says Dr. Maria Ofitserova, Senior Research Chemist at Pickering Laboratories. “In addition to log files collecting real-time data on all instrument parameters for troubleshooting purposes, we now have the User Journal that allows laboratories to maintain records of completed runs, error messages, changes to methods and sequences.” She continues, “these and other details are important for audits and regulatory compliance. We also introduced an automated calibration feature for our heaters, which supports instrument performance qualification in the field.”

About Pickering Laboratories, Inc.:

Pickering Laboratories, Inc. manufactures analytical columns, high-purity reagents, and post-column derivatization instruments that enable specialized analysis with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Equipment.  For nearly 40 years, Pickering Laboratories has offered its expertise and technical support to our customers in the environmental, clinicals and food markets to help them achieve the highest sensitivity and selectivity of analysis.  Our supported methods include the derivatization of Amino Acids, Carbamates, Glyphosate, Aminoglycoside Antibiotics, Polyether Antibiotics, Biogenic Amines, Aflatoxins, Paralytic Shellfish Toxins, and more.

Contact Information:

Rebecca Smith
Director of Operations
Pickering Laboratories, Inc.
1280 Space Park Way
Mountain View, CA 94043
www.pickeringlabs.com
support@pickeringlabs.com

New Products, Onyx PXC, pinnacle pcx

Support Bulletin

by David Mazawa

Pinnacle PCX – End of Life Notice


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Dear valued customer,

It is with a heavy heart that we stop production of the Pinnacle PCX post-column system. A myriad of production issues has led us to develop a replacement instrument. We have a limited number of new Pinnacle PCX components remaining that we can build with, so we plan to stop production on March 1, 2020 (while supplies last). However, we will have Pinnacle PCX replacement components available until January 2030 to support our customers’ ongoing maintenance and repair needs.

Onyx PCX – New and Improved Instrument 

We have taken this as an opportunity to improve on the Pinnacle PCX design! Our new instrument, the Onyx PCX, has the following improvements and highlights:

Color

The color on the Onyx PCX was updated to be more modern and now the color gradient on the column compartment door mirrors its temperature gradient capability.

Size

The Onyx PCX is slightly larger to allow easier access to the inner compartments. This makes assembly and maintenance easier and faster.

Reagent Tray

The Onyx PCX reagent tray is much larger and can now be used as secondary containment for the reagent bottles. In case of a spill, the reagent tray can hold much more liquid than the Pinnacle reagent tray. There are also handles for easy removal.

LCD

The new larger LCD shows more details of what the instrument is doing. This makes it easy to see the system’s status at a glance.

Reactor

The Onyx PCX reactor is slightly smaller with more efficient heating and allows for field calibration by a trained engineer.

Pump and Valve Motors

The Onyx PCX Pump and Valve motors use different power than the Pinnacle PCX Pump and Valve motors. These are married to the board components and are not backwards compatible.

Column Compartment

No physical differences but we’ve enabled the Onyx PCX column heater to be calibrated in the field by a trained engineer.

Communication with PC

The Onyx PXC communicates exclusively via USB connection to the PC.

Software

The Onyx PCX Control Software has a different look to match the new display.

User Journal

The new User Journal feature records method, sequence details, run times, changes, and error messages for audit compliance.

Contact Pickering Technical Support (support@pickeringlabs.com) for any questions or contact our Customer Service Team (orders@pickeringlabs.com) with quotation requests.