By: Kevin McKeown

In May, Pickering Labs had a chance to exhibit at the LAPRW – Latin America Pesticide Residue Workshop –  in Panama City, Panama!  This was made possible by an invitation from one of our Central American dealers, Analytical Technologies, and we are very grateful for the partnership (and translation services, even though Technical Support Manager David Mazawa’s Spanish is passable!).  Our booth was shared with other companies that Analytical Technologies represents: Agilent and Gerstel. 

The show consisted of many hot topics in the Pesticide Residue testing world, including the continued importance of Glyphosate monitoring.  Pickering Labs has been a leader in Glyphosate/Carbamate analysis for over 30 years, so it certainly gave us a lot to talk about with the attendees!  Some of the more interesting requests that we were asked about were Glyphosate in Honey and in Tomato Leaves.  Using HPLC + Post-Column is not only a long-standing, tried and true way of doing this analysis, but is also completely matrix-independent: making a tricky substance like honey a perfect candidate for our instrumentation.

What would a trip to Panama be without a trip to the canal?!  David and I had a VERY early Sunday morning wakeup call so that we could squeeze in some sightseeing, which included a bicycle tour around “old town” Panama City, where we learned a lot about Manuel Noriega and the completed history of Panama.  The organizing committee for LAPRW put together a wonderful show, which included a performance of traditional dancing, in classical dress, by some of the LAPRW volunteers (truly a full-service group!).  I would be remised if we did not get the attached picture with a pair of the dancers in front of our beautifully-appointed booth.