Harvard School of Public Health

Project Summary (2000-2006)

The Environmental and Biological Chemistry Core serves as a chemical analysis center for all projects in the program. Researchers operate gas chromatographs with various detectors, an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer, and a K-X-ray fluorescence instrument. The Core assists in development of standard operating procedures and establishment of quality assurance and quality control protocols for each target compound. In addition, the Core participates in inter-laboratory comparison exercises to ensure that results generated by this facility are comparable with studies performed elsewhere on other laboratories. This Core has been enhanced with the development of a Molecular Biology Core unit. This portion of the Core provides instrumentation and expertise for molecular endpoint readout services, helps develop and apply these molecular procedures for investigator needs, and provide quality assurance and quality control for laboratory protocols.