Simi Valley, Calif. — A low cost testing option is now available from Columbia Analytical for detecting elemental sulfur (S8) in bulk drywall. The testing focuses on orthorhombic cyclooctasulfur (elemental sulfur: S8), a unique marker compound found only in drywall which causes corrosion. The test costs approximately $100 per drywall sample, depending on your project.

Columbia Analytical’s proven method for elemental sulfur uses gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC/ECD) and allows for rapid turnaround of sample results. The GC/ECD analytical technique offers comparable sensitivity to the GC/MS method also offered by Columbia Analytical, but at a substantially lower cost.

The low cost GC/ECD analysis allows clients to screen a large volume of drywall samples quickly for S8. Because drywall used in home construction can be from mixed sources, submission of multiple samples from one suspect home may be done to reduce the risk of false negative results. In addition, confirmatory analysis of drywall for S8 by GC/MS is still available and may be performed on the same sample as the GC/ECD analysis.

Roughly 5g (approximately 2”x2”) of bulk drywall material is all that is required for this new GC/ECD analysis. Results are reported in units of mg/kg. A result higher than 10 mg/kg is typically indicative of corrosive drywall, making it easy to identify “bad drywall.”

Columbia Analytical’s Research & Development team began laboratory analysis on suspect drywall in spring 2008. They have since analyzed several hundred drywall samples from homeowners, home builders and developers, environmental consultants/industrial hygienists, government agencies and contractors, as well as, domestic and foreign drywall producers as part of their method development.

Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. is an employee-owned, full-service environmental analytical laboratory testing network established in 1986 and headquartered in Kelso, Washington. Their expertise encompasses air, water, dioxin, biological, pharmaceutical, solid and hazardous waste analyses.

For more information on the laboratory analysis of problem drywall, contact Alyson Fortune at 978.501.2735 or visit Columbia Analytical’s website at www.caslab.com.

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Learn more about Chinese drywall testing…

Columbia Analytical Tucson Laboratory is excited to announce the arrival of their new LECO TruSpec Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur (CHNS) Analyzer with Oxygen Module and Auto Samplers.

The addition of this new equipment will enable Columbia Analytical to increase capacity for CHNS analyses and analyze difficult matrices for oxygen.

“We can analyze CHNS on a single aliquot of sample, thus reducing the amount of the sample needed. Oxygen analyses can also be performed on organo-metallic samples and samples containing fluorine,” stated Lab Manager Ralph Poulsen. “The instrument is easily switched from CHNS to oxygen and stabilizes within an hour versus up to a day with other instruments.”

TruSpec analyzers operate at a higher pyrolysis temperature (1,250 vs 950C) which is critical in breaking organo-metallic and oxygen bounds and it uses IR detectors which eliminates the need for a gas separation column that is easily poisoned by low concentrations of fluorine in the sample.

“Oxygen analyses times will be greatly improved from approximately five to six minutes to less than two minutes,” said Poulsen. “This new analyzer also supports compliance to FDA Regulation 21 CFR Part 11 and AOAC, AACC, AOCS, ASBC and ASTM approved methods of analyses.”

For more information on micro-elemental testing, contact Ralph Poulsen, Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. at 520-573-1061 or visit their website at www.caslab.com.