🔬 Lab Update: Waters UPLC-MS and Thermo Gas Chromatograph! 🔬

Another lab update: Our new Waters UPLC-MS and Thermo GC are finally in! Teams from Waters and Thermo have been on site at our facility installing and doing the IQ/OG on these new awsome machines!

Here is the Waters UPLC-MS.

The new UPLC mass spec from Waters is going to allow us a lot more ability and flexibility in method development, method validation, and identification of unknown compounds in various samples. We have a column switcher on this UPLC, so we can have it auto-switch between different columns needed for specific methods. This is crucial when working on an R&D machine that will be doing method development. Sometimes a C18 is just not the ideal column for the analyte. We also have the PDA detector in-line with the QDa mass detector. So we can get a full UV spectrum with peak purity in addition to the mass data. This will allow us to have a much more complete picture of the analyte. Sometimes what you think is a single peak on the UV spectrum is actually multiple things hiding together. The mass detector will show those fragmentation patterns and allow us to break down just what is in a peak at a given retention time. We are going to be getting one of the clearest and most accurate pictures of some of these novel compounds and botanical extracts!

Here is the new Thermo GC.

Then we have our new Thermo gas chromatograph with headspace autosampler. This is going to allow us to get really accurate residual solvent data, while also providing the ability to analyze things that don't play well with a liquid mobile phase, like fish oil. A headspace autosampler is an attachment to a gas chromatogrpah that allows for sampling from the gasses coming off a sample. This is how you can accurately identify and quantify residual solvent residues in various products. This is going to give us the ability to quantify the residual solvents in every single batch of every single product ND sells! The other cool thing is that we can hook this GC up to a mass detector at some point. So we can use the gas mobile phase with the flame ionizing detector it currently has, or get mass fragmentation data in the future!

Our lab now has its first gas chromatograph and first mass spec detector, all in the same month! These are some of the best machines currently available for their purpose. Many here might not realize just how complex science is. Analyzing the quality of a product is so much more than just a peak purity number from an HPLC. You need different machines and methodologies to really see the full picture of a sample from a chemistry perspective. The "industry standard" is woefully inadequate in our opinions, and we are trying to lead the way in bringing valid scientific validations to not just the nootropics community, but the entire supplement market. The more capabilities we have in-house, the more we can continue our advancement of the analytical standards of the entire industry! We're going to keep setting the bar higher and higher, and the other companies in this market are either going to be forced to treat the analytical chemistry seriously, or continue to fall further behind. I hope someday I will look out on the industry and feel my mission was accomplished. It's going to be a long hard fight, but no customer should have to fear what they are putting into their bodies. Without all of your support, I would not be able to keep pushing this mission forward. I sincerely thank all of you for that continued support!