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Herbal
Remedies and Forensic Investigations
By Clynton Halstead
Chemistry
Crazy!
Chemistry in high school was the only subject that interested
me. Mostly because it enabled me to put theory into practice
and perform experiments, which was unlike any other class
in high school. With most high school classes dealing primarily
with the theoretical aspects, chemistry is what steered me
towards science and what still keeps me interested more than
ten years on.
My Day in Science
My day was spent installing and commissioning a brand new
analytical instrument called the High Performance Liquid Chromatography
– or HPLC, which is routinely used for a wide variety of applications.
Applications include testing of pharmaceuticals (ie. Aspirin),
herbal and vitamin preparation (ie. Multivitamins, Echinacea),
environmental (soil and water testing), blood and urine samples
(illicit drug use; vitamin deficiencies), food products, (pesticide
levels in fruit and vegetables) and forensic investigations
(poisonings and DNA analysis).
My Job
My position as the Quality Assurance Manager means my primary
daily duty is the quality control of herbal preparations including
dried herbs, liquid tinctures and tablet formulations. Installation
of the HPLC allows my workplace to increase the amount of
analyses that can be performed and therefore allows for the
generation of revenue to strengthen the position of a laboratory
in the herbal analysis industry.
My Lab
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