{"id":6180,"date":"2025-11-20T11:57:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev26.lecowebtest.com\/news\/\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:31:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T18:31:55","slug":"interview-mit-whoi-zu-nicht-zielgerichteter-umweldforschung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/whoi-interview-on-non-targeted-environmental-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Forensik im echten Leben: WHOI-Experten \u00fcber die Macht der nicht-gerichteten Umweltanalytik"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-leco-vertical-margin-top has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-875e403b wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1ffe0ea6 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Published on<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"line-height:1;margin-top:12px;margin-left:6px\" class=\"wp-block-post-date has-custom-1-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2026-06-25T15:59:57.183Z\">25 Juni 2026<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h1 class=\"is-style-h2-style wp-block-post-title\">Real-World Forensics: WHOI Experts on the Power of Non-Targeted Environmental Analysis<\/h1><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><figure class=\"is-style-rounded wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1028\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Featured-Image-WHOI_1028x514.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"WHOI Chris Reddy and Bob Nelson\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Featured-Image-WHOI_1028x514.jpg 1028w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Featured-Image-WHOI_1028x514-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Featured-Image-WHOI_1028x514-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Featured-Image-WHOI_1028x514-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Featured-Image-WHOI_1028x514-18x9.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1028px) 100vw, 1028px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1ea9787f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:48px\">\n<div class=\"leco-share-article align-left wp-block-create-block-leco-share-article\">\n\t<div class=\"share-article-wrapper\">\n\t\t<button class=\"share-article-button\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/whoi-interview-on-non-targeted-environmental-research\/\" aria-label=\"Share Article\">\n\t\t\tShare Article\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t<span class=\"share-article-copied\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n\t\t\tArticle Link Copied\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-sl-1-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-sl-1-background-color has-background has-base-100-color has-base-100-background-color is-style-default\" style=\"margin-top:60px;margin-bottom:60px\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1ea9787f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:48px\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We recently had the opportunity to chat with Emeritus Research Scholar Bob Nelson and Senior Scientist Chris Reddy from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whoi.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)<\/a> about their work at the Palos Verdes Mass-Transport Dumpsite. Chris and Bob collected samples and used LECO\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/instrument\/high-resolution-gc-ms-hrt\/\" data-type=\"instrument\" data-id=\"2252\">Pegasus GC-HRT 4D<\/a> to uncover what exactly was spilling out of the hundreds of barrels onto the ocean floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We invite you to listen and read on to learn how they answered a few of our toughest questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/lecocorp.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com\/audio\/leco-whoi-ddt-wastewater-interview-2025.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Interview Navigation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#intro\">Introductions with Chris Reddy and Bob Nelson<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#investigations\">Deep Sea Investigations<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#analysis\">Why WHOI uses GCxGC Analysis<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#findings\">Unexpected GCxGC Findings: DDT Compounds<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#understanding\">Sifting through the Data<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#pollutants\" data-type=\"internal\" data-id=\"#pollutants\">Deeper Investigations into Environmental Pollutants<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#webinar\">What Can We Expect from the\u00a0<em>Sloppy Disposal<\/em>\u00a0Webinar?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-sl-1-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-sl-1-background-color has-background has-base-100-color has-base-100-background-color is-style-default\" style=\"margin-top:60px;margin-bottom:60px\">\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"intro\" class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introductions with Chris Reddy and Bob Nelson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong>\u00a0I am going to go a little bit off script with this first question because this is my first time meeting you guys. And I would love to know a little bit more about who you are, how you got to be where you\u2019re at now, and yeah, just learn a little bit more about you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris Reddy:<\/strong>\u00a0You go first, Bob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob Nelson:<\/strong>\u00a0I actually arrived at WHOI in 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Oh, wow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> So I\u2019m an old timer. Yep. And I\u2019ve been in the chemistry department ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong>\u00a0Awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Tell the transition. I mean, you know, like what you were doing and then you switched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yeah, I was in medical research at the University of Connecticut and I ended up deciding that I didn\u2019t like sacrificing the animals. So I ended up going into environmental science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> That\u2019s awesome. I feel like that would have been probably what I would have done too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> I\u2019m going to get more of Bob at my end here. So, I\u2019m Chris Reddy. I came to WHOI\u2014and it\u2019s pronounced \u201choo-ey\u201d, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution\u2014I came here in \u201897, December 1997, which puts me off of probation [laughter] because when people come here, they don\u2019t leave. And so Bob officially retired, but still works. That was June of \u201821 or June of \u201822?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> \u201822<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris: <\/strong>June of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So I am a senior scientist, which is like a full professor and run a research program with Bob since 2000. So I started in 2000, and in 2002, I got a lot of research money in my hands. And some of that money was to buy GCxGCs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so I had gotten my first, but it wasn\u2019t a LECO\u2014although I wanted to buy the LECO, by the way, but that\u2019s a different story. The first\u2013actually, no, I wanted to buy your mass, the LECO mass spec\u2013but I was overruled. We ended up buying this Finnegan, which would have been better off served as an anchor. But that\u2019s a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was\u2014I had a ton of money. I had a brand new GCxGC and I didn\u2019t have any time to push the buttons. And at that time, Bob was working for another guy who was running out of money. And I think Bob was running out of patience working for the guy. And I couldn\u2019t get\u2014I had money to hire two postdocs and I couldn\u2019t get any postdocs that I liked. And so I was talking to my next door neighbor\/lab guy\/mentor. And he said, you should combine that money and hire Bob. It would be the best thing to happen. And we did. And it did. And we have been a team ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong>That\u2019s a great story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, yeah. And so we have traveled the world together, collecting samples from people. All walks, worked with all walks; worked on every crazy\u2013every sample has got a crazy story behind it, whether it\u2019s, you know, bottom of the ocean floor, Smurf blood oil, and you know, lawsuits with heating oil that\u2019s been falsified, made. And if we thought about it, we could talk about it forever, and just about every major oil spill that\u2019s happened in the last 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong>The only continent we haven\u2019t been to is Antarctica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah. And, we have field samples\u2013we\u2019re constantly getting field samples. We just in the last three days\u2013well, the last week\u2013just received two samples of oil that are leaking from Japanese World War II shipwrecks in the Solomon Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then next week, I\u2019m getting a sample from a World War II shipwreck off the coast in Cape Cod. Last week we got\u2014and we\u2019re going to talk to Joe about this on Friday\u2014we got our first paper published analyzing the oil from the USS\u00a0<em>Arizona<\/em>\u00a0in Pearl Harbor. So we see a lot of stuff. And we use\u2014we\u2019re in the business of telling stories about what happens when you dump a chemical into the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u2019t know Jack about toxicology. Bob has more biology background than me. To us, when you put a chemical into the environment, you\u2019re basically putting mother nature on a treadmill. We are perturbing nature and we are trying to understand how nature fights back, you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What are the mechanisms that nature uses to overcome a pollutant or not overcome a pollutant? And the value of that is in the short term, if you have an oil spill, we can provide knowledge by analyzing the sample very quickly, providing insight to the responders. We can also provide insight during an oil spill about trying to forensically match unusual spills, as well as making sure that the responsible party, the spiller, pays the right fine for whatever they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, we also use this knowledge because if you\u2019re designing a next generation plastic and you know from oil spills that chemicals that have a certain structure, you don\u2019t want that structure\u2014like think of it as like a big, you know, piece of Lego, right? Every molecule is a Lego. There are pieces that don\u2019t break down in the environment. And then there are pieces that act as kind of the Achilles heel to break down. And we are always trying to tell people like, \u201clook, if you make a chemical for the next generation and you want it to break down really fast, then you want to make sure it has somewhere in here that you want to build these Achilles heels.\u201d And we base these arguments off studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have used as our workhorse for the last 20 years LECO platforms. So we tell stories with the LECO platforms. You know, if we\u2019re writing books, the LECO platforms is our inspiration and our typewriter, right? I mean, they\u2019re giving us the opportunity to tell a story. So we\u2019re not analytical chemists. We don\u2019t\u2014for example, when I was at the ACS meeting last month, there\u2019s a lot of analytical chemists talking about\u2013and there\u2019s no knock on them by any means\u2013they\u2019re talking about how do they optimize for the absolute perfect separation and how do we do this so that you get fastest turnaround and best signal-to-noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while Bob has made really great measurements, we\u2019re not in the business of trying to get the most \u201cperfect, perfect, perfect.\u201d We\u2019re getting in the business of using the LECO platform to tell a story that no other instrument can do. And we\u2019ve done that for 20 years without any doubt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> One interesting thing about\u00a0<em>Arizona<\/em>\u00a0was they actually topped off the tanks the day before it sank. So it sank with full tanks, which is why it leaks. It\u2019s still leaking to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Wow. Yeah, you guys definitely do some awesome work. And I\u2019m happy to be talking to you guys today. I\u2019m thrilled that LECO works with you guys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> LECO has been incredibly generous. So, we have no complaints. We\u2019re super lucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> That\u2019s wonderful to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> I\u2019ve actually worn a path between Woods Hole and St. Joe. I\u2019ve been to St. Joe quite a few times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> I went to St. Joe the first time\u2013it was either it was in 2002 or 2001\u2013and that\u2019s when the GCxGC facility was in a bank, like near the campus. And that\u2019s when, Mr. Warren, whenever there was a guest, he always showed up. He knew what\u2013he knew the pulse of that place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> And he used to send us home with chocolate\u2013a box of chocolate for your wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> All right,\u00a0<em>heck yeah!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> I can\u2019t remember who our host was in 2001 or 2002, whenever we went out to St. Joe first time. The guy who was kind of the lead, he said, \u201cyou know, just a heads up, Mr. Warren will be by this morning.\u201d And I was like, \u201cOh, you know, he\u2019s talked to his assistant\u201d or whatever. And he goes, \u201cno, Mr. Warren knows everything that goes on in this. And if there was a guest on campus, he will be here.\u201d And, you know, that was it. 15 minutes later, he came. It was very gracious, but it was kind of charming. And, arguably one of the reasons why LECO has stayed, you know, relatively a family business is, they do to that type of personal contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Exactly. Well, we\u2019re super appreciative for you guys\u2013I\u2019m super appreciative for you guys sitting down to do this interview today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong>Oh, it\u2019s not problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ll hop into it now. Thank you for giving me some background. That\u2019s helpful for me and awesome to know more about you guys.<br><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"investigations\" class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Deep Sea Investigations <span style=\"font-size:smaller;\">[09:04]<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> The first question that I\u2019ve got here\u2013why don\u2019t you guys tell me what were some of the biggest challenges in investigating the dump site, which was, what\u2013nearly 900 meters underwater?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, so I\u2019m gonna lead off on this question because we were on a research cruise in 2011\u2014now, you hear cruise you think Captain Stubings and the Love Boat\u2014but, you eat well, but you\u2019re working like a dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And we were funded to study where these natural oil seeps\u2013you know, somewhere around the world, there\u2019s cracks in the bottom of the seafloor where oil reservoirs leak. And they\u2019re called natural seeps\u2014you know, if you like the Beverly Hillbillies, Jed got rich; Jed Clampett found the natural seep, and then they eventually drove oil and that\u2019s how Jed got rich. And if you ever heard about La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, that\u2019s a natural oil seep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway, we were studying natural oil seeps off to Santa Barbara and have done some really nice work with LECO platforms. But we had an opportunity to go south, or east I guess, to off the coast of Los Angeles, on this research vessel, the Atlantis. We had an unbelievable opportunity\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/news\/discovering-ddt-how-gcxgc-is-uncovering-an-environmental-disaster\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to look for these dumped waste materials that our buddy Dave Valentine had been reading about<\/a>. And the reason why we were super lucky was that on this research vessel, we had two robots, both of them unmanned. And one of them is called Sentry. And you can think about these two robots as kind of hunter-gatherers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so Dave had an idea where they were. And we programmed this vehicle called\u00a0<em>Sentry<\/em>. We threw it over the side and it\u2019s completely autonomous. You just give it a mission and then it goes all by itself. And we told it to go map: take some pictures, but also some sonar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> It\u2019s equipped with an echo sounder, sonar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> So we told it to go in the middle of the night, go find it. It comes back out of the water. We download the data. And sure enough, there\u2019s a map. And you can see all these little blips on the seafloor, [they] were definitely unusual. And so then we went to gathering stage and we used a vehicle called\u00a0<em>Jason<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Jason is a much beefier instrument, and it even has two robotic arms, so it can collect samples. But Jason is tethered to the ship. It needs electricity to work. So whereas Sentry\u2019s kind of a light and nimble, little search vehicle that\u2019s scanning and looking, Jason has to do the heavy work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reason why these samples had not been collected in the past is that no brute and elegance had ever come to bear to look for them like we had on the research vessel Atlantis with Sentry to map the area. The thing you have to remember is that Jason can only move like a couple knots, like a couple miles an hour, so you can\u2019t throw Jason over the side and say \u201clet\u2019s go find it,\u201d because, you know\u2013it\u2019s like asking my toddler to go find our car keys in the baseball field, like he just never would freaking find it, right? But Sentry\u2019s faster and Sentry can map bigger areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The long and the short of it is: the hard part was overcome by the outstanding technology that was available to us. The most memorable part was that we knew where it was, right? Jason has\u2013because it has a tether\u2013it has a lot of electricity. And a lot of electricity gives you a lot of lights, because the bottom of the seafloor is dark, and that gives you really beautiful camera images. We were in the container that Jason comes with. There\u2019s three people in the front. There\u2019s a pilot, there\u2019s an engineer, and there\u2019s a navigator. And they\u2019re sitting in the very low-tech Star Trek\u2013type array, and they\u2019re going, \u201cAll right, we\u2019re going to start seeing, based on Sentry\u2019s map, we\u2019re going to start seeing the dumped material.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"352\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Barrel.png\" alt=\"WHOI underwater photograph: barrel on sea floor\" class=\"wp-image-6199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Barrel.png 352w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Barrel-300x205.png 300w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Barrel-18x12.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so we can see the video on one screen of actually the bottom of the sea floor, but we can also see the map, the forward-looking radar and we can say oh my god \u201cthey\u2019re coming, they\u2019re coming.\u201d And then, suddenly out of the bottom of the sea floor are all these you know metal 55 gallon drum tanks that are in a variety\u2013you know, leaking stuff out and buried out,and you know it was you know one of these moments in life; \u201coh my gosh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was not planned! We went out there to collect oil from the bottom of the seafloor. And, you know, what happens next is two things that have happened 50 times in my career. The first part is I talked to Dave, who\u2019s standing next to me. He\u2019s the chief scientist. And I\u2019m like, \u201cDave, we have to collect as many samples as possible,\u201d because we didn\u2019t have a lot of time, because it wasn\u2019t part of the mission. But we were like, \u201cwe have to collect as many samples as possible.\u201d So we had to divert, put Jason on the ground, use this robotic arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now that\u2019s part one of the Chris and Bob story. The part two is me calling Bob or emailing Bob going, \u201cYou\u2019re going to get ready. We\u2019re going to be sending these. I\u2019m going to mail these samples the second we get off the boat because they are so unbelievable.\u201d And that\u2019s what happened. You know, we can talk more about what we found. The most memorable part, the coolest part was that we were lucky enough to have the same type of analytical muscle instrumentation on the front end to find the samples as we were to interrogate the samples with a LECO platform. So, we were buttressed by high-end technology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Yeah, that\u2019s incredible. Because, yeah, how else are you going to be able to look at what\u2019s on the seafloor with all the pressure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> And on top of that, we had the guy on the boat. He\u2019s an engineer. If you lost something in the ocean, he\u2019s the guy who finds it. He actually, for all practical purposes, he\u2019s the one who found the\u00a0<em>Titanic<\/em>. So it was\u2013we had good people, and the right technology, the right time, and the right place. And we found this unbelievable find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Sounds like, yeah, it was definitely right place, right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, no doubt. But, you know, in some respects though, to give our buddy Dave Valentine credit, he is a curious guy and he had read about this. And, you know, he was like, \u201chey, we have a little gap in our schedule. We should go look.\u201d You know, a lot of other lead scientists might not have wanted to leave the site and all that stuff. He also was able to get the whole team together to do it, so there\u2019s a lot of great leadership there as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So the samples get were collected with a like think of it as a pipe\u2013a clear pipe like you get a Home Depot\u2013and the robot pushes the sample the pipe into the ground and then picks it back up and now you have a four inch diameter pipe that\u2019s, you know, probably\u2013I don\u2019t know\u201312 or 14 inches of mud collected. And that mud, the bottom of the seafloor, is just kind of like a tree ring, you know, that the deeper the mud, the older it gets, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And usually we process the samples on the deck. So the boat comes up, we take the core, we actually take kind of\u2013think of it as kind of a plunger. We push the stuff out from the bottom and then the little cakes of the mud are coming out. And then, you know, we literally slice it with a kitchen knife and you end up getting pucks about anywhere from sometimes one to two centimeters, put them in a jar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So now you have discrete samples collected at one location, you know, at maybe four or five depths, that we can, that we also can actually date, say, \u201coh, this was roughly 1965, 1975.\u201d Those go in a jar and they\u2019re sampled on the deck. I actually, I was part of the sampling team. I was all over that. And then we put it in a jar and it gets frozen. And then, you know, we shipped them right back to Bob once we get off the boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And we ended up going going back in 2013. The paper first paper didn\u2019t get published in 2019 for a variety of reasons: time, money, yada, yada, yada. But the samples came back, and your next two questions are really more on the analysis. My job ends, you know, I just write email, the jar and the sample goes to Bob and I go, \u201cBob, let\u2019s make some, tell us a story.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> So you\u2019re kind of, you\u2019re the man in charge now, huh, Bob?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> Oh yeah, for sure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"analysis\" class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why WHOI uses GCxGC Analysis <span style=\"font-size:smaller;\">[17:27]<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> All right, so that leads to the next question then. Analytically speaking, what are the greatest challenges that you encountered in the project and how did you address them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> The challenge is: it\u2019s a total unknown. I mean, we had a suspicion that there were pesticides. We like to cast a really, really broad net, which is why we use the GCxGC platform. Because it turns out to be, you know, there was targeted\u2013we did have some targeted compounds, but we also didn\u2019t know what else was in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">So it\u2019s generally almost always it\u2019s a non-targeted approach that we take because we like to see as much as we can, which is why we run very long, very slow gradients . We use very long first dimension column, et cetera. So that challenge, you know, the challenge is: what the heck is in here? And how do we, how do we figure out what\u2019s there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> We also didn\u2019t know what was in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> There was medical waste and possibly in some there was, you know, there was\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Radioactive material was found in some of these things. So, you know, there\u2019s a certain sense of uncertainty. You have to take a lot\u2013you have to be really careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> \u201cAre we bringing up explosives?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, all very possible. All entirely possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But we expected to see DDT and those types of chemicals because they were downstream from one of the biggest manufacturers of DDT in the United States, Montrose. But another one that has happened a thousand times between Bob and me is that: I know Bob\u2019s running the sample and then I wait like an hour so I don\u2019t annoy him. And then I go, \u201cwhat\u2019s it look like?\u201d, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, you know: a watched chromatograph does not separate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re looking at it together and you go, \u201cthere\u2019s a lot more oil in this.\u201d The DDT gets the top billing, but most of the chemical in those extracts that were analyzed by LECO, are petroleum hydrocarbons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not\u2013it\u2019s just that DDT\u2026 Rachel Carson wrote about DDT. She didn\u2019t write about oil. And that\u2019s not surprising since\u2013if you\u2019ve ever been on The 5 in the Los Angeles area\u2013there\u2019s all these oil refineries. So it doesn\u2019t surprise at all, that kind of makes sense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"findings\" class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unexpected GCxGC Findings: DDT Compounds <span style=\"font-size:smaller;\">[20:02]<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> That kind of leads into my next question, which was, if you could share an example of something unexpected that GCxGC revealed in your samples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"997\" height=\"436\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Chemical-Chains.png\" alt=\"a chromatogram from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution showing chemical compounds detected by LECO's GC-HRT 4D\" class=\"wp-image-6198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Chemical-Chains.png 997w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Chemical-Chains-300x131.png 300w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Chemical-Chains-768x336.png 768w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WHOI-DDT-Chemical-Chains-18x8.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 997px) 100vw, 997px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chromatogram indicating chemical compounds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> Sure. So we did find all kinds of petroleum biomarkers, like the hopanoids and steranes and compounds like that. We also found these linear alkylated benzene detergents that\u2013I actually first saw those from a colleague of ours from our department back in the early 1990s. He was looking at Deep Water Dump Site 106 off of New York, and he found all these industrial detergents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">And we saw some of those in the sediment cores. We also saw in some of the later cores that were not in that paper, we actually found compounds that contain nitrogen, anilines\u2014which we are assuming now that are one of the starting compounds for DDT\u2013the DDT synthesis process. It\u2019s a potpourri of all kinds of interesting things that we weren\u2019t expecting to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, I mean, and this is where the LECO platforms come in, in that: if these samples\u2013and they were\u2013analyzed by 1D, GC-FID and GC-MS, you would get some interesting outcomes. You would have seen the DDT and stuff like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But you have to remember that when Montrose sold their product when they sold DDT to everybody, right, it wasn\u2019t just one single molecule. It wasn\u2019t just DDT. Like, if you buy an individual chemical from Aldrich, when you buy a chemical, you expect to get it to be 99% or something like that. But the DDT that was released and used as a pesticide in the United States was what we would call \u201ctechnical grade,\u201d and it was about 60% DDT. The rest of the 35% or so was a variety of different byproducts, incomplete products, and a range of other chemicals. So when we talk about DDT, it\u2019s not a single entity. It\u2019s the outcome of this reaction where they didn\u2019t do a good job cleaning it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plus, that waste might have had stuff that was left over in some reaction, it could have been otherwise. The end result, I can\u2019t remember the number was, is that any self-respecting chemist with a benchtop GC-MS could have identified DDT, and there\u2019s another compound called DDE, and there\u2019s another one called DDD\u2013totally no problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s all the rest of these compounds that were associated with DDT, that that\u2019s where we were able to pluck them out of these complex mixtures with the HRT, with the high-res mass spec. And we went one step further\u2013Bob went one step further. And Bob created in this paper\u2013and this paper is one of my favorite ones of all time because we have \u201csloppy\u201d in the title. Uh, if you haven\u2019t gotten the paper\u2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> Do you have it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acs.est.8b05859\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> \u201cChemical dumping was a sloppy process.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0It\u2019s free\u2013but we\u2019ll send you the paper\u2013but in the supplemental information, one of the really important points was, is that Bob went and created a library of all the different halogenated, chlorinated compounds related to DDT and put in their high-res mass spec in the back of the\u2013basically the end of the paper, kind of the appendix\u2013and then ranked how he identified them. You know, it\u2019s two parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">If I was going to list, maybe the top 10 things that, in terms of informative work that I\u2019ve done in my career, those two files, and the supplementary information that\u2019s all about the returns of the GCxGC-HRT are that, those two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> Basically, it\u2019s a confidence level of how confident are we in our assignments. We show our high-res spectra versus the NIST library spectra as well . So you can compare and contrast what we got versus the NIST. They\u2019re all really good fits actually. Except, for we got four digits past the whole unit resolution. We have a lot more confidence in our assignments because of our ability to use the mass defect that you can\u2019t really use on a regular mass spectrum that only does whole unit resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> And the other thing is that, remember I was talking about the layers, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> What\u2019s interesting is that, we got different GCxGC chromatograms at different depths, right? And so it\u2019s not only that; and the different cores had that. So we\u2019re not only asking the LECO platforms\u2013and they delivered\u2013to tell a story about one singular sample at that dump site. We\u2019re asking it to help us tell a story and interrogate the contents of one core at five or six different horizons, and the contents of another core with five or six different horizons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">So it\u2019s not just tell a story with one sample, it\u2019s tell a story with 10 samples, 20 samples. And that\u2019s when you can start visually comparing and doing all this stuff that\u2019s way beyond me. And that becomes Christina\u2019s problem\u2014your Christina\u2019s problem, not ours\u2014about how do you process that information and to look for similarities and dissimilarities so that you can then use that data to hone in and target more stuff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"understanding\" class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sifting through the Data <span style=\"font-size:smaller;\">[25:49]<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Yeah, that perfectly leads into another question I had on here, which was, you did\u2013I mean\u2013all of that data, everything it comes back with, like how were you able to sort through that and come up with some of those conclusions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:\u00a0<\/strong>We use, in order, you know, in order to find the chlorinated compounds, I use the RDBE versus carbon number apps , which are great for any compound that has a hetero\u2013a heteroatom\u2013like anything chlorinated, anything brominated, anything with a nitrogen, anything with a sulfur, et cetera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So that basically let us, let you focus right in on that hot area right away. And that was\u2013in the beginning, that was what everybody wanted to see was, you know: what are the chlorinated compounds, and how many of them are there, and where are they, and et cetera, what do they look like, you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further out we started looking at other compounds: sulfur containing, anything with the nitrogen\u2013and on subsequent cruises we found all these anilines, which we believe are the starting compounds for the chlorinated pesticides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> I\u2019m not quite\u2013Julie, I\u2019m not sure of how much chemistry background you have and forgive me\u2014So, another reason why the HRT and the accurate mass becomes incredibly powerful in this investigation is exactly what Bob said, which is that: these samples were not just carbon and hydrogen and even chlorine, but they had nitrogen and sulfur and oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you start building molecules with these, what we call \u201cheteroatoms,\u201d you end up getting some very interesting compounds that you don\u2019t usually look for. If you had a benchtop GC-MS, you would just have to sit there and get very lucky trying to see if there were any nitrogen-containing compounds. You would almost have to get lucky in some respects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The way in which the HRT collects data and the way in which how each one of those atoms weighs\u2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> their unique mass\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris: <\/strong>their unique mass, the information that\u2019s encoded in the HRT allows us to actually say, \u201cdo any of these things have something that weighs X?\u201d And if it does, it must have a nitrogen in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that\u2019s how Bob was interrogating these samples for these heteroatoms, which are very hard otherwise. Because the data afforded by the HRT was so\u2013had such great resolution\u2013there was so much information encoded in it that we could interrogate it and ask it for: where are all the nitrogens, where are all the oxygens, and where are all the sulfurs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And one thing to keep in mind is that it\u2019s often just as important\u2013not as much fun\u2013to show that something is not there as is there. And then Bob can look for something and say: I wonder if there\u2019s any of these XXY compounds? If they were, then they should weigh 192.6754.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bob can put that number in and scan, and if it\u2019s not in the sample, it\u2019s not there. That is incredibly powerful. So it\u2019s not just finding with confidence, it\u2019s also showing it\u2019s not there with confidence. And that is where the HRT also excels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Wonderful. I learned something new today. Yeah, being able to look specifically and interrogate the data like that\u2013that\u2019s something that\u2019s really insightful, something that I didn\u2019t even know our instruments could do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> I\u2019m not sure where this is, and it wasn\u2019t necessarily your question, is that\u2013we think, and we don\u2019t think there\u2019s any doubt\u2014we\u2019re not industry shills or anything like that. We\u2019re not paid by LECO, right, to do anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">But we strongly believe that this industry (you are industry)\/academic connection, and the fact that we have such fruitful exchanges, you know, that puts us at a competitive advantage with our colleagues, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> And we actually consider LECO colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> You know, are very nice and i think that\u2019s you know part of you know if you wanted to look at LECO special sauce right it is that it\u2019s a family business, you know\u2014is it still a family business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Yep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, I mean, you can feel that. It\u2019s not\u2014it\u2019s undeniable, absolutely. Because we get a ham, and we eat the ham, you know. I\u2019ve given the ham away to Goodwill, too. I mean it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Oh yeah<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> It\u2019s a very nice touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Yeah, they do that. I think it\u2019s employees get turkeys around Christmas and stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> They don\u2019t ship well, but the hams do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> [laughing] Exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Thank god for salt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Right, right, exactly. So, yeah, it is something cool that they do. I\u2019m so glad to see that they do that for you guys, too. That\u2019s so neat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> They wouldn\u2019t have to, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Right. I feel like you guys kind of answered. You know, we talked about what makes GC by GC pivotal for the environmental analyses, which is being able to take a deep dive into the data, interrogate it, find what\u2019s not there or what is there, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Kind of the being able to explore the unknowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah. And you know, where this becomes powerful moving forward is that, let\u2019s all be honest\u2013and I don\u2019t want Joe to kill me\u2013every lab in the country, the world, is not going to get a LECO platform\u2013you probably don\u2019t want to have every lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But where this becomes super powerful\u2014and this is where LECO acts\u2013the GCxGC platforms by LECO\u2014they act like a guiding light for how this country decides what to look for in the future. And so we can see it with LECO. We can communicate what we see and we can start to give advice about like: look\u2013and others can too\u2013all right, you don\u2019t have a LECO platform. But, if we did this, this, this, and this, and four jumping jacks, we could do it with a benchtop GC-MS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if they did this and did this, they could do it\u2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> As long as they know what they\u2019re looking for\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> As long as they know what they\u2019re looking for. And so maybe, the GCxGC is actually in some respects paving the way for more traditional, less advanced platforms to provide society with information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is very powerful. It\u2019s very powerful that we can find, communicate and elaborate and tell the story because it\u2019s more than just saying it\u2019s there. It\u2019s: why is it there? Where did it come from? How long has it been there? And when you start to build those stories, then folks can make the policy decision and other decisions about whether or not they need to be investigated at a greater level and thinking about how they can make it more\u2026 studied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But you can make breakthroughs by looking at GCxGC data, and saying: look at this peak and what is it? And then say: where did it come from? And what did it look like? Is it what came out of the tailpipe of this car or did nature slightly modify it? And then did nature modify it again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes we can see the original chemical. We can see it\u2019s getting modified once, maybe by sunlight. We can see it getting modified again by microbes. Those stories are all in the GCxGC chromatograms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> And a lot of times those peaks are in the weeds for people on a traditional one-dimensional gas chromatograph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah. Think about traditional GC\u2014and I love traditional GC; I was just showing Bob some GC-FID chromatograms\u2014traditional GCs are very good at looking at redwood trees in a chromatogram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">LECO can see the redwood tree, the smaller pine tree, the bush,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> and the grass<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> the grass, and then some little critter that\u2019s living on the grass. And while it might not be abundant, it\u2019s informative. And that\u2019s the trick, right, is that we\u2019re putting a microscope on these samples and not being obscured by the big stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> I think that\u2019s an excellent way to put it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"pollutants\" class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Deeper Investigations into Environmental Pollutants <span style=\"font-size:smaller;\">[34:29]<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> You started to touch on this a little bit, but how might the research that you guys are doing inform other investigations into environmental transformation of pollutants, like PFAS or microplastics?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, I mean\u2013you know, we make a significant effort to publish our work, and that matters a lot to us. And we make a significant effort to communicate about our results, whether it\u2019s seminars like next month and things like that. That\u2019s where our job is. We get out there, and we tell these stories, and we tell them where we think this is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">And, you know, whether\u2013we\u2019ve been looking at compounds associated with plastics for years as well. Our job\u2013we don\u2019t look at millions of samples. We look at enough samples for us to tell a story and hopefully help others pave the way for more comprehensive, bigger projects. We\u2019re not\u2013we\u2019re a small team\u2013but we bang the drum and our drum is a LECO instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> I love the way you put that. I think I just have a couple questions left for you guys. Are there encouraging trends or new strategies emerging for the remediation of persistent organic pollutants in the environment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> You know, it\u2019s tricky. We spend most of our time in the ocean. And, Mother Nature is a fickle beast. And, trying to do cleanups and things like that are really, really hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> Especially at 900 meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, but here\u2019s where you have to make a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s decisions when you have a polluted area. And the decision is, do you leave it alone or do you bring in the bulldozers? And a lot of times people will say, \u201cwe got to take it away. We have to get rid of this. We have to clean up the area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, those things come with costs, right? I mean, if you have this pristine salt marsh and you bring in bulldozers to take out one contaminated spot, what\u2019s the net benefit, right? And so ultimately when they\u2019re making decisions about cleaning up, or where to clean up, or where to protect when there\u2019s an event, right? Like: look, we have two boats and there\u2019s three areas that we\u2019re worried about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You want to make the most well-informed decision, and you make your most well-informed decisions, and you make your best\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oilspillprevention.org\/oil-spill-cleanup\/oil-spill-cleanup-toolkit\/net-environmental-benefit-analysis-neba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Net Environmental Benefit Analysis<\/a>\u00a0when you have well-characterized samples. And that\u2019s where the platforms come in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> So the question is\u2013for me, the question is: are these compounds sequestered or are they available to the environment? And, you know, over time more sediments come down and pile up on top of them. So, are they actually going to be available to be re-suspended in the water column and come back up? Or, is it better off to let the sedimentation of compounds basically bury them and sequester them at the seafloor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> That\u2019s the point, right\u2014is that anytime you have to make a decision about to clean up or not to clean up\u2013environmental benefit, basically\u2013\u2013what are the pros and the cons? You know, just like balancing your checkbook, you want to have as much information as possible so that you get the best results, right? The best possible result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a08dc265 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that\u2019s in our world where we can make a difference is by providing the best characterization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can\u2019t think of an example, but it\u2019s entirely possible that you can analyze a sample with traditional EPA methods and it may come back as not particularly toxic, or potentially toxic. But you could analyze it on the GCxGC, find something very unusual that was non-targeted, do a little bit of investigating and saying, well, \u2018this isn\u2019t necessarily clean.\u2019 It might be clean per se. \u201cClean\u201d means that it has non-detects because they only looked for 100 compounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But suddenly your chromatogram is dominated with peaks that would have been overlooked otherwise. And now you have a very different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, nature remediates, right? And we follow that all the time. You know, we have done multiple experiments where you might add some oil in a jug, you return to the same spot that\u2019s been oiled, and you watch it change with time. This often happens with microbes. So Bob has tracked microbial degradation many times, but that\u2019s in nature, right? Like, letting nature follow its story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the analogs for if somebody was trying to design an experiment maybe in groundwater are right there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> One of the salient questions that we had at the video\u2013oh,\u00a0<em>Out of Plain Sight<\/em>\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Oh, yeah, the movie on the DDT site,\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outofplainsight.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Out of Plain Sight<\/a><\/em>, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> One of the salient questions was: have you ever actually sampled anything from the barrel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">And the [answer] is no, because we didn\u2019t want to actually release anything. We did sample around barrels that were leaking on the seafloor where you could actually see visual leak patterns from the barrels<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Yeah, that\u2019s actually a really interesting point that you brought up and when it comes to remediation and having to explore all these things, how much you don\u2019t want to disturb, but you also need to be able to discover. So it seems like there\u2019s kind of a balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> There\u2019s very much a balance in what they call Net Environmental Benefit Analysis. That very rarely is it an easy decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> We don\u2019t want to make it worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, you don\u2019t want to make it worse, right? And there\u2019s another saying called \u201cno blood for money and no oil for blood\u201d. So you also don\u2019t want to put anybody in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> Sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> And so these are the types of things that people are sitting\u2013it\u2019s not us\u2013we don\u2019t we don\u2019t make policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">You just try to give good science so that the most well-informed decisions are made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> All right, guys. Last question for you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"webinar\" class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Insights to the <em>Sloppy Disposal<\/em> Webinar <span style=\"font-size:smaller;\">[40:38]<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Julie:<\/strong> You\u2019re going to be presenting your work\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/events\/sloppy-disposal-of-ddt-manufacturing-waste-products\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in an upcoming webinar with us<\/a>. What can attendees expect to learn from the event?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> I think, in my mind, is that they\u2019re going to get a story from the beginning to the end of historical pollution of DDT. They\u2019re going to get a story from A-to-Z\u2013and I don\u2019t know how to pack it, you can use better words than I just said\u2013we\u2019re telling the crispest, most resolved story because of the GC platforms. Go ahead, Bob.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yeah, I think\u2013I guess the take-home message from us is that there\u2019s always something interesting in the non-targeted analysis. For us, we like to do a more holistic approach rather than just target a few compounds. So the take-home message is: there\u2019s more than just DDT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chris:<\/strong> Yeah, and to be honest with you, you know, scientists are always famous for three things: saying we wish we had more time, and more money, because there\u2019s way more in these samples that we just haven\u2019t had a chance\u2013we are busy; funding has always been tight\u2013but there\u2019s a lot left on the table. But it\u2019s not just not the Chris and Bob show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"border-left-width:2px;padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--m)\">There\u2019s some other really great\u2014[end]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1ea9787f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:48px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-sl-1-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-sl-1-background-color has-background has-base-100-color has-base-100-background-color is-style-default\" style=\"margin-top:60px;margin-bottom:60px\">\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-h4-style\">Learn more about the Sloppy Disposal<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"leco-event-rows wp-block-create-block-leco-event-rows\">\n\t\t<div class=\"leco-event-rows__row\">\n\t\t<div class=\"leco-event-rows__split\">\n\n\t\t\t<!-- Left: Featured image -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"leco-event-rows__image-col\">\n\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-rounded-full-width\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/waves-crashing-ocean-shore-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"waves crashing at rocky ocean shore\" style=\"aspect-ratio:4\/3;object-fit:cover\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<!-- Right: Content -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"leco-event-rows__content-col\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"leco-event-rows__title is-style-h4-style\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/events\/webinar\/sloppy-disposal-of-ddt-manufacturing-waste-products\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInvestigating DDT Manufacturing Waste Products with GCxGC-HRT\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"leco-event-rows__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Analyzing the effects of leaching from illegal offshore waste dumps<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"leco-event-rows__date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOn Demand\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/events\/webinar\/sloppy-disposal-of-ddt-manufacturing-waste-products\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWatch On-Demand\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-sl-1-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-sl-1-background-color has-background has-base-100-color has-base-100-background-color is-style-default\" style=\"margin-top:60px;margin-bottom:60px\">\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-h4-style\">Instruments Used<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"leco-card-grid-block wp-block-create-block-leco-card-grid\">\n\t<div class=\"leco-card-grid columns-2\" role=\"list\" aria-label=\"Card grid\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/instrument\/high-resolution-gc-ms-hrt\/\" class=\"leco-card\" role=\"listitem\" aria-label=\"Pegasus HRT Series - Click to learn more\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<!-- Card Image -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"leco-card-image\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"LECO Pegasus High-Resolution GC-TOF-MS\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/leco-pegasus-hrt-high-resolution-gc-tof-ms.webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/leco-pegasus-hrt-high-resolution-gc-tof-ms-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/leco-pegasus-hrt-high-resolution-gc-tof-ms-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/leco-pegasus-hrt-high-resolution-gc-tof-ms-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/leco-pegasus-hrt-high-resolution-gc-tof-ms.webp 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, (max-width: 1200px) 50vw, 371px\" alt=\"LECO Pegasus High-Resolution GC-TOF-MS\" class=\"leco-card-img\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"sync\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<!-- Card Content -->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"leco-card-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"leco-card-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPegasus HRT Series\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"leco-card-bottom\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"leco-card-description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHigh Resolution GC and GCxGC-TOF-MS\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"leco-card-link\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"leco-card-arrow\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"44\" height=\"44\" viewbox=\"0 0 44 44\" fill=\"none\" focusable=\"false\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M12.7998 22C12.7998 22.5523 13.2475 23 13.7998 23L27.3857 23L21.7998 28.5859C21.4093 28.9764 21.4093 29.6095 21.7998 30C22.1903 30.3905 22.8234 30.3905 23.2139 30L30.5068 22.7071C30.8973 22.3166 30.8973 21.6834 30.5068 21.2929L23.2139 14C22.8234 13.6095 22.1903 13.6095 21.7998 14C21.4093 14.3905 21.4093 15.0236 21.7998 15.4141L27.3857 21L13.7998 21C13.2475 21 12.7998 21.4477 12.7998 22Z\" fill=\"#78543D\"><\/path>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-7d5f9c92 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-sl-1-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-sl-1-background-color has-background has-base-100-color has-base-100-background-color is-style-default\" style=\"margin-top:60px;margin-bottom:60px\">\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-h4-style\">Related News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\"><ul class=\"columns-3 wp-block-post-template is-layout-grid wp-container-core-post-template-is-layout-1d17308c wp-block-post-template-is-layout-grid\"><li class=\"wp-block-post post-7271 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><figure style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/pegasus-btx-mass-spec-coolest-thing-michigan-award\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Images.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"LECO Pegasus\u00ae BTX Mass Spectrometer Nominated for \u201cCoolest Thing Made in Michigan\u201d Award\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Images.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Images-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Images-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Images-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Images-18x10.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<h4 style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:300\" class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-25e6d450634c6f6ce866507b40ad7ad3 wp-block-post-title has-text-color has-dm-8-color has-medium-font-size has-rothek-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/pegasus-btx-mass-spec-coolest-thing-michigan-award\/\" target=\"_self\">LECO Pegasus\u00ae BTX Mass Spectrometer Nominated for \u201cCoolest Thing Made in Michigan\u201d Award<\/a><\/h4>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2026-06-25T15:59:57.208Z\">25 Juni 2026<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-7201 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news tag-gcxgc tag-microplastics tag-pyrolysis tag-thermal-desorption instrument-model-hrt4d core-analysis-type-gc-mass-spectrometry application-type-environmental product-line-mass-spectrometry\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><figure style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/microplastic-analysis-methods-with-thermal-desorption-and-pyrolysis-gcxgc-tofms\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Image-Microplastics.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Surpassing the Limits of Traditional Microplastic Analysis Methods with Thermal Desorption and Pyrolysis GCxGC-TOFMS\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Image-Microplastics.png 1800w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Image-Microplastics-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Image-Microplastics-1024x341.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Image-Microplastics-768x256.png 768w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Image-Microplastics-1536x512.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Featured-Blog-Image-Microplastics-18x6.png 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<h4 style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:300\" class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-25e6d450634c6f6ce866507b40ad7ad3 wp-block-post-title has-text-color has-dm-8-color has-medium-font-size has-rothek-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/microplastic-analysis-methods-with-thermal-desorption-and-pyrolysis-gcxgc-tofms\/\" target=\"_self\">Surpassing the Limits of Traditional Microplastic Analysis Methods with Thermal Desorption and Pyrolysis GCxGC-TOFMS<\/a><\/h4>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2026-06-25T15:59:57.208Z\">25 Juni 2026<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-4219 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news instrument-model-58 core-analysis-type-carbon application-type-environmental application-type-soil-analysis product-line-elemental-analysis\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><figure style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/role-of-toc-in-regenerative-agriculture\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/two-farmers-in-red-discuss-soil.webp\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"The Importance of Analyzing Total Organic Carbon in Soil in Regenerative Agriculture\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/two-farmers-in-red-discuss-soil.webp 1280w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/two-farmers-in-red-discuss-soil-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/two-farmers-in-red-discuss-soil-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/two-farmers-in-red-discuss-soil-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.leco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/two-farmers-in-red-discuss-soil-18x10.webp 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<h4 style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:300\" class=\"has-link-color wp-elements-25e6d450634c6f6ce866507b40ad7ad3 wp-block-post-title has-text-color has-dm-8-color has-medium-font-size has-rothek-font-family\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/news\/role-of-toc-in-regenerative-agriculture\/\" target=\"_self\">The Importance of Analyzing Total Organic Carbon in Soil in Regenerative Agriculture<\/a><\/h4>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2026-06-25T15:59:57.208Z\">25 Juni 2026<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We chat with Bob Nelson and Chris Reddy from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"instrument-model":[95],"core-analysis-type":[27],"application-type":[32],"product-line":[11],"class_list":["post-6180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","instrument-model-hrt4d","core-analysis-type-gc-mass-spectrometry","application-type-environmental","product-line-mass-spectrometry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6180"},{"taxonomy":"instrument-model","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/instrument-model?post=6180"},{"taxonomy":"core-analysis-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/core-analysis-type?post=6180"},{"taxonomy":"application-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/application-type?post=6180"},{"taxonomy":"product-line","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leco.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product-line?post=6180"}],"curies":[{"name":"WP","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}