Used to separate out a compound into its various components, chromatography plays a part in the realms of forensics, food regulation, athlete testing and even quality control in our favourite alcoholic drinks.
Here are three of the more everyday uses of chromatography that might surprise you. Well, in real life, gas chromatography is often used to investigate criminal cases like the ones featured on those shows.
This can take the form of crime scene testing the analysis of blood or cloth samples , arson verification identifying the chemicals responsible for a fire to see whether there was foul play or blood testing after death to determine levels of alcohol, drugs or poisonous substances in the body. Of course, not all blood samples are taken after death.
Scientists used Chromatography in the fight against the Ebola virus, responsible for over 11, deaths, to develop the experimental immunisation Zmapp. The process was used to find out which antibodies are the most effective at neutralising the deadly virus. The horsemeat scandal, in which horsemeat passed off by vendors as beef came to light, highlighted the ineffectiveness of traditional food analysis methods and positioned chromatography as the frontrunner in determining the contents of processed meat.
The traditional methods of analysis were effective at determining the composition of raw samples but inconclusive when analysing processed meats so a more precise method was called for.
H igh performance liquid chromatography, combined with mass spectrometry HPLC-MS was then successfully used to find out if meat that had been labelled as beef was beef, horse or a mix of these and various other ingredients.
Food isn't the only thing you consume which has been tested using chromatography. Many drinks manufacturers use this technique to ensure each bottle of their product is exactly the same, so you can rely on a consistent taste.
As chromatography can accurately identify substances within the bloodstream, it is widely used in sport to test athletes for doping or performance enhancing drugs, something to think about the next time you're watching your favourite sport. Chromatography is also used to help catch criminals.
In line with programmes like CSI, gas chromatography is used to analyse blood and cloth samples, helping to identify criminals and bring them to justice. But have you ever wondered how they're able to take that blood or urine sample and identify exactly what substances are in it?
It turns out that a lot of this testing is possible because of gas chromatography. The liquid samples are heated until they become vapor and are then run through a machine full of a specific gas solvent. Lab technicians measure the retention time how long each substance from the sample stays dissolved in the solvent.
Then, they plot the results on a chromatogram and compare them to those of known drugs. If the results are similar, they'll be able to tell exactly what kind of drugs you've used recently. Food testers found that several products labeled as processed beef actually contained horse and pig meat as well.
Eventually, investigators linked three Irish beef processing plants to the mislabeled meats. But how did investigators find out the beef wasn't bonafide? The current methods of food testing were able to tell what type of meat was in a pure sample. But, as in this case, they couldn't identify the relative parts of processed meat. Investigators found that chromatography was exactly the tool they needed. Scientists started by blending up the processed meats into a liquid and using chromatography to separate the parts.
Then they compared the results to chromatograms of pure meat samples. This helped determine not only what kind of meats were present, but also their relative concentration. Today, many types of food testing rely on chromatography.
It's used to identify the levels of certain additives, detect milk spoilage, and determine the vitamin and mineral content of foods and drinks. Chromatography isn't only used to find substances that shouldn't be there. It's also a great way to ensure the things you do want show up in the same concentration every time. That's what makes it such a valuable tool for breweries and liquor distilleries.
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