Dances with Mice
08-16-2005, 23:59
I'm kind of an industrial forensic chemist. Or forensic industrial chemist, whatever. I used to work in a forensic lab, now I do the same thing for a Fortune 400 (...but dropping rapidly...) company only now nobody goes to jail. Well, usually.
Anyway, I receive a sample from one of our tech support reps serving hospitals. One of our products was in contact with a surgical instrument (think of something like a scapel) and the instrument had a hazy film on it. Hazy films on surgical stuff equals bad news for our product, you dig? So a couple of scientific tests later (think "CSI" but for real) and I'm sure the film is some sort of carbohydrate - could be starch, could be glucose, can't tell for sure because unlike CSI this IS for real. The good news is our product doesn't contain either so we're off the hook. Still, it'd be nice to narrow down the source of contamination on the instrument so the hospital could eliminate it and our (think 'my') analysis credibility would be enhanced.
So, how to tell glucose from starch on a really thin film on a little bitty sample? If we had a bunch of sample it'd be no problem. Hell, if we were CSI it'd be no problem. But we don't and we're not so it's a problem.
But a couple years ago I made a dry camp on top of Sassafrass Mountain in Georgia. I'd hauled my water from the stream at Hawk Mtn and I didn't feel comfortable about the source - I've seen people washing dishes and soaking their feet there. So I treated it with iodine before I left. When I used the iodine water to make my supper I had purple potatoes! Iodine reacts to stain starch deep purple. Didn't affect the taste at all, I enjoyed my purple potato meal.
So I brought my bottle of Polar Pur to work, still filled with stream water from my last trip on the AT. So there's the sample under a microscope, a drop of the Polar Pur is carefully removed from the bottle with a micropipette (think 'eyedropper' only more expensive) and the iodine solution is carefully added to a portion of the hazy film on the instrument's surface. And it turns bright purple! Dude, that's STARCH!! Iodine doesn't affect sugars. SCORE!! Micrographs (photographs taken with a microscope) are developed of the result proving the results of the chemical reaction and sent to the hospital.
Polar Pur saves the day. And all thanks to that memorable purple potato meal on Sassafrass Mtn.
!
Anyway, I receive a sample from one of our tech support reps serving hospitals. One of our products was in contact with a surgical instrument (think of something like a scapel) and the instrument had a hazy film on it. Hazy films on surgical stuff equals bad news for our product, you dig? So a couple of scientific tests later (think "CSI" but for real) and I'm sure the film is some sort of carbohydrate - could be starch, could be glucose, can't tell for sure because unlike CSI this IS for real. The good news is our product doesn't contain either so we're off the hook. Still, it'd be nice to narrow down the source of contamination on the instrument so the hospital could eliminate it and our (think 'my') analysis credibility would be enhanced.
So, how to tell glucose from starch on a really thin film on a little bitty sample? If we had a bunch of sample it'd be no problem. Hell, if we were CSI it'd be no problem. But we don't and we're not so it's a problem.
But a couple years ago I made a dry camp on top of Sassafrass Mountain in Georgia. I'd hauled my water from the stream at Hawk Mtn and I didn't feel comfortable about the source - I've seen people washing dishes and soaking their feet there. So I treated it with iodine before I left. When I used the iodine water to make my supper I had purple potatoes! Iodine reacts to stain starch deep purple. Didn't affect the taste at all, I enjoyed my purple potato meal.
So I brought my bottle of Polar Pur to work, still filled with stream water from my last trip on the AT. So there's the sample under a microscope, a drop of the Polar Pur is carefully removed from the bottle with a micropipette (think 'eyedropper' only more expensive) and the iodine solution is carefully added to a portion of the hazy film on the instrument's surface. And it turns bright purple! Dude, that's STARCH!! Iodine doesn't affect sugars. SCORE!! Micrographs (photographs taken with a microscope) are developed of the result proving the results of the chemical reaction and sent to the hospital.
Polar Pur saves the day. And all thanks to that memorable purple potato meal on Sassafrass Mtn.
!