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in the

trendsin anaiyticalchemiswy, vol. 7, no. 5, 1988 E

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news New chair in analytical chemistry at Strathclyde University _

An award of f 125 000 from Philips Scientific has enabled Strathclyde University to establish a professorship in analytical chemis- try. This endowment, spread over five years, confirms Strathclyde’s commitment in a field where skills shortage in Britain is reaching crisis point.

The endowment also strengthens Strathclyde’s long-standing links with the Cambridge-based company which already supports basic re- search at the University through CASE awards, a fellowship, and

through the loan and donation of sci- entific and analytical instrumenta- tion. The most recent result of that collaboration was the development by the University of the furnace au- toprobe which forms a key part of the Philips PU4900 series of atomic ab- sorption spectrometers launched last year. The probe allows elemental analysis at greater levels of sensitivi- ty than previously possible, and can cope with many complex sample ma- trices.

‘Strathclyde has considerable ex- pertise in analytical chemistry, par-

ticularly in the field of elemental analysis’, said Len Morris, develop- ment manager. ‘The new chair rec- ognises the fact and will undoubtedly help the University to carry out that important work in the years ahead.’

‘We also see it as a fitting tribute to the late Professor John Ottaway of Strathclyde who worked closely with us and was a great believer in co-op- eration with industry.’

The chair will be taken up in Octo- ber this year at the same time as the first students enter a new degree at Strathclyde, introduced by the De- partment of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The Bachelor of Science in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry is the only course of its kind in West- ern Europe.

Drug-testing in Calgary

For the XV Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, Canada, $ 1.5 million worth of analytical equipment was installed at the Foothills Hospital Medical Control Laboratory, one of 21 labs around the world accredited by the International Olympic Com- mittee (IOC) for drug testing.

Samples from some 450 of the 1500 competitors were analysed. Fifteen HP GC-MS and LC-MS systems, seven of which were loaned by Hew- lett-Packard for the occasion, were used for this task. All medal winners and at least one other randomly-se- lected participant in each event are tested. Each must provide a urine sample within 1 h of competing, and each sample is divided into two ali- quots so that one may be held for a second confirmatory test should the first prove positive.

This huge undertaking has been described by Dr. Robert Baynton, chairman of Medical Laboratory Services for the XV Winter Olympic games, as the most comprehensive

drug-testing process in the history of the Games. Drug testing has been a regular feature of the Olympic Games since 1968, when the IOC first issued a list of banned sub- stances. Over the past twenty years, this list has grown as new drugs are invented and new methods deve- loped for detecting and identifying them.

Five classes of drugs have been banned at the 1988 Winter Games: stimulants, including high levels of caffeine, narcotics, anabolic steroids, /3-blockers, and diuretics, which may be used to dilute urine and thus reduce other banned sub- stances below detectable levels. This is the first time in Olympic history that athletes have been screened for P-blockers and diuretics.

GC-MS and LC-MS methods are generally accepted by sports authori- ties as the most accurate means of testing for drug abuse among ath- letes. The IOC specifies mass spec- trometry for final confirmation of

positive results because of the method’s proven sensitivity (detec- tion limit, 1 ppb). Accuracy and re- liability of results are crucial, and the IOC is providing control samples throughout the Games to ensure con- sistency with the methodology.

The Summer Olympics in Seoul will be a much larger screening enterprise, with around 9000 compe- titors (six times the number of those at the Winter Games) as well as the horses competing in equestrian events.

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