Analytical chemistry plays an important role in several key business areas at Signature Science. With projects in areas ranging from chemical defense to traditional environmental management, and applications that include method development, field testing and validation, quality assurance of testing laboratories, and sampler and sensor development, Signature Science offers a wide range of support services with a foundation in analytical chemistry.

Our chemistry laboratories, located on-site at our Austin, Texas office, are equipped to support organo-phosphorus analyses in support of various chemical defense applications, although the both preparation equipment and analytical instrumentation are also amenable to other types of environmental analyses. Instrumentation includes gas chromatographs with pulsed flame photometric detectors as well as gas chromatographs coupled with mass spectrometers. Sorbent (air samples), water, and soil and other solid matrix samples are routinely extracted using accelerated solvent extractors (ASE) or other techniques (e.g., sonication or separatory funnel). Sample extracts usually are concentrated by nitrogen evaporation using an N-Evap Ò concentration system, although other concentration options are also available.

One of the key project areas for analytical chemists at Signature Science is in providing quality assurance support for analytical laboratories and measurement programs. For over ten years, Signature Science chemists have been key providers of analytical quality assurance support to U.S. government analytical programs that demand the highest quality analytical data available. Support for these programs includes on-site, third party audits of analytical laboratories, data review and analysis, quality program development, document review, and other QA oversight activities.

A closely related analytical chemistry support area involves field testing and validation of new chemical samplers and sensors. With expertise in all aspects of the measurement process from collection to analysis, as well as hands-on experience in developing and implementing measurement quality control programs, our chemists play a key role in the validation process. In our on-site laboratories, staff chemists are able to conduct small-scale experiments (e.g., determining if a list of target compounds is stable in a single solution or identifying surrogate compounds for methods used by our clients) and to develop methods for analyzing environmental field samples. Results from samples collected during field validation efforts allow our clients to determine which samplers are most suited to collecting analytes of interest or to develop models for the fate and transport of various chemicals.

In addition to quality assurance and field validation, Signature Science also provides analytical chemistry support in the areas of training and field operations. On the operations side, we have chemists with field experience conducting operations in the areas of CBRN sampling, analysis, and site inspections with U.S. government organizations. Several of our chemists participated in the search for chemical weapons in Operation Iraqi Freedom. With hands-on experience in both the field and the laboratory, our chemistry staff also represents an invaluable in-house resource for the various training courses we offer related to chemical, biological and radiological defense.