What on Earth is in the Water? Find Out With ACD/IXCR Intelligent Compound Recognition

ACD/IXCR, ACD/Labs’ Intelligent Compound Recognition software, is being embraced by wastewater analysts for its non-targeted analyte detection and identification capabilities. It is particularly effective in aiding risk assessments and solving water emergencies quickly.

ACD/IXCR uses COmponent Detection Algorithms (CODA) to reduce noise and de-convolute overlapping peaks in full scan GC-MS data. This approach circumvents manual data interpretation, reducing the potential for error and affording analysts more time to focus on truly problematic pollutants.

CODA is applied to raw or preprocessed data from almost any instrument. The resulting reconstructed component spectra are automatically searched against the NIST database, and a concise report showing the search result and a calculated match factor is produced in Excel. Analyze one or many samples in a batch, and store the analysis and the reports in a fully searchable database that can include sampling and location information as well as analytical data and reports. Compare samples against a standard, control, or blank and highlight any similarities or differences to help isolate problem peaks.

Secondary verification can ensure compounds are properly identified by confirming the correlation of peak assignments with experimental data, producing a quality index score to indicate the consistency between spectral peak intensities and expected isotope abundances of a proposed structure. indicating whether peak intensities in the spectrum are consistent with isotope abundances expected for the proposed structure.

Among the users of ACD/IXCR are Wessex Water, a regional sewage treatment business which serves 2 million Britons, and the United Kingdom’s National Laboratory Services. “The extracts we are getting from passive sampling are usually contaminated with a lot of environmental matrices,” says Praveen Kutty of the UK National Laboratory Service, “This software is very useful to identify compounds in the presence of a high matrix.”

To learn more, visit www.acdlabs.com/waterquality or download this Industry Application Note.

About Wessex Water: Wessex Water is the regional water and sewage treatment business serving an area of the south west of England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire. http://j.mp/12uQw0E

About the National Laboratory Service: The NLS has been at the scientific nerve centre of the UK’s environmental regulator the Environment Agency for over 20 years. Our laboratories provide analytical solutions to problems of air, water and soil pollution, applying the very latest chemical and molecular techniques. http://j.mp/12uQwxy