OAQ Laboratory Facilities

OAQ laboratory facilities include:

• aerosol physics laboratory for test particle generation and sampler evaluation;
• x-ray spectrometer laboratory for elemental composition analysis (Pb) and mineral identification (crystalline silica);
• high Performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) laboratory for liquid phase organic (aldehydes, PAH), and Ion Chromatography (IC) laboratory for inorganic analytes, (Cr+6,    SO-4, NO-3, NO-2);
• gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) laboratories for positive identification and quantification of unknown organic compounds;
• inductively coupled axial plasma- atomic emission spectroscopy (ICAP-AES) laboratory for ultra-trace analysis of toxic metals (Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Be, As);
• air sampler development, testing, and fabrication shop;
• mobile laboratory for the assessment of toxic releases in the field;  
• environmental chamber for chemical exposure assessment;
• optical microscopy laboratory for conducting phase contrast (PCM) and polarized light microscopy (PLM) with digital image capture; 
• scanning and transmission electron microscopy Laboratory for imaging individual toxic particles, coupled with chemical identification using energy dispersive elemental and electron diffraction analysis.