Laboratories Department

• Activities conducted under the coordination of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA-Helsinki, Finland) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA-Parma, Italy) regarding the assessment of substances added to the Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP) as well as hazardous substances that are part of plant protection products, according to the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). Under the guidance of the Ministry of Environment and the National Agency for Environmental Protection, in accordance to the REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, the INCDPM Bucharest`s experts draw up technical reports on ecotoxicology and environmental behavior of target substances. Furthermore, the INCDPM Bucharest has designated members that take part in international working groups organized by the ECHA: PBT expert group, Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) and the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC).
• Water quality assessment by determining organic and inorganic micropollutants; Development of experimental techniques, methods for in situ measurements, integrated monitoring; Development and improvement of techniques, methods and standards for the determination of water pollutants; Microbiological and biological monitoring; Evaluation of the environmental behavior and ecotoxicology of hazardous substances/products; Testing of absorbent products used in accidental pollution events.
• Air quality assessment by determining organic and inorganic micropollutants; Development of experimental techniques, methodologies for in situ measurements; Development and improvement of techniques, methods and standards for determination of air pollutants; Microbiological monitoring concerning indoor air contamination; Dispersion and modeling of air pollutants using a transmission model that includes their chemical transformations in the atmosphere.
• Soil quality assessment by determining organic and inorganic micropollutants; Development of experimental techniques, methodologies for in situ measurements, integrated monitoring; Development and improvement of techniques, methods and standards for determination of soil pollutants. Microbiologic monitoring.

• Development of experimental techniques, in situ and laboratory measurement methodologies;
• Research concerning the state of the environment and the evolution of its quality;
• Research on monitoring the quality of environmental factors: development, improvement and adoption of techniques, methods and standards for the determination of pollutants and contaminants that affect the quality of the environmental components;
• Development of methods for integrated monitoring of environmental components;
• Scientific approach to the design of monitoring networks and their technical parameters, in order to obtain the relevant information on quality indicators of environmental components;
• The quantitative and qualitative characteristics of surface water, drinking water, industrial and agricultural water resources, groundwater and wastewater;
• Evaluation of environmental behavior and the ecotoxicological profile of plant protection products and biocides, in accordance with the REACH Regulation;
• Evaluation of physicochemical and biological indicators for the purpose of determining the ecological state of natural or artificial aquatic ecosystems;
• Studies on physiological groups of bacteria involved in biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen, sulfur, carbon in water, sediments and soil;
• Applied Microbiology: Methods of microorganism identification and their interaction with the environment;
• Physico-chemical and bacterial characterization of water from different sources (e.g. wells/boreholes, swimming pools, bathing water, wastewater, surface waters);
• The characterization of the diversity of the microbial community from environmental samples by molecular techniques.
• Recovery of useful substances from wastewater;
• Testing of the absorbent products used in accidental pollution events;
• Implementing EN/ISO/OECD standards, requirements and methods; improving national methods for alignment with EU regulations.

Equipment name: High-Resolution Continuum source atomic absorption spectrometer – HRCSAAS ContrAA 700
Year: 2015
Producer: Analytik Jena
Description: The analytical instrument is composed of a high resolution spectrometer with flame atomization unit, graphite atomization unit, hydride generator with amalgamation unit and unit for direct analysis of solid samples in the furnace with microbalance and liquid dispenser. The high resolution atomic absorption spectrometer with continuous spectrum optical source (HRCSAAS) has superior performance compared to classic atomic absorption spectrometers (AAS), deriving from its high resolution (140,000-0.0016 nm) and its superior processing of spectral data. If in the classic AAS analysis only one or two useful information is acquired during analysis, in HRCSAAS over 200 information channels are acquired simultaneously in time, allowing visualization of the spectrum close to the analytical line. Out of these 200 channels of information, only 1-5 are used to compute the absorbance of the interest element, the rest of the channels being aimed towards the observation and removal of spectral interferences, including the fine structured background, difficult to manage in classical AAS.

Equipment name: UHPLC ONLINE SPE – EQuan MAX Plus™ System TSQ Quantiva
Year: 2015
Producer: Thermo Scientific
Description: Modular UHPLC ONLINE SPE – EQuan MAX system, coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometer LC-MS/MS TSQ Quantiva, includes the following components:
– EQuan MAX system for automatic purification of samples, by online SPE method (eluent delivery system: the pump which has the possibility of selecting four solvents and degasser with 4 channels);
– Quaternary pump for LCMS / MS – Ultimate 3000 analytical line;
– Direct, automatic entry system for high-volume samples (autosampler Open Autosampler);
– UltiMate 3000 thermostat for columns;
– UltiMate 3000 diode array detector;
– TSQ Quanta Triple quadrupole mass spectrometer;
– Nitrogen generator;
– ASE 350 Automatic extraction system for solid or semi-solid samples.
The system is configured in order to provide flexibility for a wide range of applications on screening, identification and quantification of contaminant traces (eg. pesticides, perfluorinated compounds, pharmaceutical and cosmetic residues, etc.) within various work matrices ( water, soil, etc).

Equipment name: Mastercycler Nexus GSX1, Termomixer TS-100, Biowave DNA BioSpectophotometer for nucleic acids, Digi Genius Photo documentation system
Year: 2015
Producer: Eppendorf
Description: They are used to achieve a wide range of genotyping methods in order to assess the taxonomical position, variations in the genome of organisms of interest in relation to the nucleotide composition, overall structure or sequence

Equipment name: Trace 1310 GC system coupled with TSQ 8000 Evo Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer
Year: 2015
Producer: Thermo Scientific
Description: 

Modular system GC-MS/MS consisting in Gas Chromatograph Trace 1310 coupled with Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer MS/MS – TSQ 8000Evo presents following characteristics:

• Mass range: 1.2 – 1100 amu;
• Sensitivity: injection of 100 fg octafluoronaphthalene (OFN) in working mode EI SRM results in a signal/noise of minimum 12000:1 for transition from m/z 272 to m/z 222, using helium as a carrier gas.

That allows the identification and quantification of halogenated organic micro pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls compounds (PCB) in environmental matrices.

Equipment name: Continuous flow analysis system CFA San ++
Year: 2015
Producer: Skalar Analytical B.V.
Description: Continuous flow analysis system CFA San ++ will ensure the possibility of adapting rapidly to the modern requirements of water quality monitoring in terms of quality indicators: nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, phosphates, total phosphorus, sulfates, total cyanides, phenol index, anionic detergents.

Equipment name: CLARIOstar430-101 (high performance microplate reader with multiple detection)
Year: 2015
Producer: BMG Labtech
Description: 

The equipment is used for the following applications: endpoint analyses, kinetic analyses, caster cup scan; gene analyses; cell analyses; quantification of proteins, nucleic acid analyses, genotyping; enzyme assays; ELISA assays and immunoassays; determining the microbial load; colorimetric determination of endotoxin.

Equipment name: Bioreactor – fermentator
Year: 2015
Description: 

The fully-equipped bioreactor-fermentator is provided with self-diagnosis sensors for the automatic monitoring of pH, redox, dissolved oxygen and temperature. The industrial-type PLC control system has an 8” colour Touch Screen control interface that allows data visualisation and the setting of several parameters. The system allows the control of 3 bioreactors and the simultaneous use of up to 8 peristaltic pumps with fixed and variable speed and up to 8 gas flowmeters. The bioreactor is equipped with 3 autoclavable peristaltic pumps for pH adjustment, antifoaming effect and nutrient addition and an autoclavable peristaltic pump for harvesting and nutrient addition.The system also includes a thermocirculator with adjustable magnetic stirring.

Equipment name: Multiparameter system Manta 2-Sub 3.5/4.0 + Amphibian 2
Year: 2015
Producer: Eureka Water Probes
Description: 

Multiparameter system with the posibility of connecting up to 18 different intelligent sensors Manta 2-Sub 3.5/4.0 +Amphibian 2 allows:

– connection to a portable unit with Windows/Office and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection or directly to your PC for programming or data download;

– system setting: conductivity sensor (0-5mS); temperature sensor (-5 ÷ 50°C); clorophill a sensor (0 ÷ 500 mg); pH / ORP sensor (0 ÷ 14 / ÷ 999 -999 mV); optical sensor for dissolved oxygen (0 ÷ 25 mg/l); turbidity sensor (0 ÷ 3000FNU); depth sensor (200 m), with the ability to connect additional sensors as needed.

The on-line monitoring systems for physical-chemical-biological water quality parameters ensure the database for mathematical modelling.

Equipment name: Mobile laboratory for water and soil quality analysis
Year: 2015
Description: 

Auto laboratory for water and soil quality monitoring with sampling equipment and specific instruments for the determination of quality indicators, configured as needed.

Mobile laboratory for water and soil quality analysis

The basic configuration of the mobile laboratory comprises:

• Citroen Jumper van, equipped with:

o Air conditioning unit;

o Laboratory furniture;

o Electric generator PRAMAC, model ES 5000 AVR;

• Equipment for sampling and analytical determinations:

o UV-VIS spectrometer Cary 60;

o Chlorine colorimeter Lovibond 276170;

o Temperature/humidity logger HE820;

o Portable pH, conductivity and turbidity multiparameter ODEON X;

o Spectrometer with filters for 330nm – 900nm spectral range Lavibond;

o Thermoreactor RD125;

o Reactor DBR-001;

o Portable sampler MAXX TP 5 P;

o Dissolved oxygen analyser WTW OxiTop IS6;

o Mechanical mortar Retsch RM200;

o Stainless steel mortar and pestle Usbeck;

o Soil sampler 07.53SC;

o Magnetic stirrer with heater ES35S Hotplate Stirrer;

o Radiation detector Geiger GAMMA Scout;

o Portable chlorophyll content analyser – AquaFluor.