Title: An environmental analysis journey with inductively coupled plasma spectrometry: a beautiful road (un beau chemin)
Abstract: My journey in environmental analysis by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry started in 1984, at the National Research Council of Canada, where I developed methods for the analysis of natural waters, sediments, and biological samples by ICP mass spectrometry (MS) and I coupled liquid chromatography to ICPMS for the speciation analysis of arsenic in seafood extracts. At Queen’s University, the method was modified to enable the simultaneous speciation analysis of As, Cr and Se in the bio-accessible fraction from food, which allows a more pragmatic risk assessment of the impact of food ingestion. The continuous online leaching method (COLM) coupled to ICPMS that my group developed allows the real-time measurement of the bio-accessible fraction of elements as they are released by artificial gastro-intestinal reagents (saliva, gastric and intestinal fluids). The COLM provides dynamic information that is not available by batch sequential extraction methods. For example, more than one peak in the leaching profile obtained with the COLM may indicate different sources of an element, which, in the case of Pb, may be confirmed by a significant difference in the corresponding Pb isotope ratios. Furthermore, a correlation between the temporal leaching profile of one element versus that of another readily reveals a common source of these elements. Application of this approach to natural toothbrush bagged upon collection from a miswak tree and to a sample from the same tree after its exposition on the side of a busy road for a few days readily revealed different sources of Pb. Coupling electrothermal vaporization (ETV) with ICP optical emission spectrometry (OES) enables the direct analysis of a variety of environmental samples, including solids, in less than two minutes and without any digestion step. The quick analysis of solids that are difficult to dissolve greatly facilitates environmental studies, such as studying the impact of slag ingestion on bird bones. If different species of an element have different boiling points, direct speciation analysis from the solid becomes possible with ETV-ICPOES, thereby eliminating the risk of species transformation or loss that may occur during an extraction. This presentation will review different approaches, including unpublished ones, used for the analysis of various environmental samples, including insects, which are growing in popularity as an alternative protein source.
Bio: Diane Beauchemin studied at l’Université de Montréal: she obtained a B.Sc. in 1980, and a Ph.D. in 1984 under the supervision of Joseph Hubert. She became a Research Associate at the National Research Council of Canada until she joined the Department of Chemistry at Queen’s University in 1988 and became Full Professor in 2001.
She has been working on inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) since 1984 and is arguably the most experienced academic researcher in ICPMS in Canada. Her research on improving this technique and expanding its range of applications to environmental analysis, geochemical exploration and risk assessment of food safety, has resulted in industrial sponsorships of all her sabbatical leaves, several industrial contracts, industrial positions for most of her students, and repeated invitations to write articles and book chapters.
Her research was recognized by the 1988 Alan Date Memorial Award in ICPMS, 1991 Maccoll Prize, 1995 NSERC Senior Industrial Fellowship, 2017 Maxxam Award from the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC), 2018 Gerhard Herzberg Award from the Canadian Society for Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy, 2019 Clara Benson Award from the CSC, and 2024 Environment Division Research and Development Dima Award from the Chemical Institute of Canada. It resulted in over 174 peer-reviewed papers, 3 books, 14 book chapters, 8 invited reviews, 1 invited editorial, 8 invited book reviews, 100 invited conference presentations, 33 invited seminar presentations, 16 broadcast interviews, and 260 contributed conference presentations. She was the first woman to receive the Maxxam Award and the Gerhard Herzberg Award.