SON NFFP72102301541.pdf

STATEMENT OF NEED FOR SUPPLY OR SERVICE

PURPOSE: Procurement of a Gel Permeation Chromatography cleanup system for complex biota tissue samples

SCOPE OR MISSION: This requirement is for the procurement of a gel permeation chromatography (GPC) cleanup system to support the Northwest Fisheries Science Center’s (NWFSC) Environmental Chemistry Program’s (ECP) quantitative trace analysis of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and their metabolites, a core capability supporting NWFSC’s mission.

BACKGROUND: The ECP is charged with the mission of stewardship for living marine resources and is specialized in quantitative trace analysis of POPs and their metabolites in complex biota tissues to support NWFSC’s mission. To achieve trace level quantitative measurements, the ECP uses special cleanup systems to remove interfering substances from biota tissue extracts.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: The GPC cleanup system is used to remove interfering substances from the tissue extracts of protected species collected from their habitat. This cleanup process is critical for quantitative trace analyses of biochemical tracers, emerging chemicals, and legacy contaminants and their metabolites in tissues which often contain high levels of interfering components such as lipids. An excellent example is marine mammal blubber, which typically has a high lipid content but are one of the ECP’s primary sample matrices. Removal of interfering substances such as lipids from tissue extracts can significantly reduce background noise in later measurements using gas/liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) thus lower detection limits can be achieved. Moreover, it can protect the GC/MS from being overloaded by high concentrations of those interfering substances and reduce the maintenance cost and time. As such, the GPC cleanup system is essential for the ECP to generate high quality analytical data and provide important information on contaminant exposure, bioaccumulation/biomagnification, biological effects of toxins and their metabolites, geographical range, and energy and health status of marine fishes, mammals, and invertebrates.

The GPC cleanup system needs to be well integrated in the ECP’s current extraction workflow. It needs to be able to withstand 100% dichloromethane, the primary solvent used in the extraction process of tissue samples and the mobile phase that is pumped through the GPC system. Its liquid handler needs to be capable of both sample injection (as an autosampler) and fraction collection so its footprint can be small, as we are limited in laboratory space. In addition, the fraction collection and injection must utilize separate fluid pathways to avoid cross-contamination. The liquid handler should be able do septum-piercing, inject 0.5 – 1 mL and can collect fractions in a wide variety of vessels including 60 mL glass tubes. The liquid handler also needs to be of modular design to allow for system flexibility. For example, it needs to be capable of supporting solid phase extraction (SPE), another cleanup approach we often use. The pumping system needs to be able to work with a Phenomenex Phenogel 10 um 100Å LC column (300 x

21.2 mm) or similar columns from other brands. The pump should be capable of at least 5 mL/min flow rate. It is preferable that the pump can be manually primed and can be operated via its control panel in addition to the computer software. The GPC cleanup system needs to have a UV-Vis detector equipped with a flow cell and fixed detecting wavelength of 254 nm.

The instrument needs to have at least a one-year standard warranty. It needs to come with installation and operation familiarization training.

DELIVERY: 6/16/2023 OR SOONER.

DELIVERABLE SCHEDULE: The product shall be delivered to the following address, Northwest Fisheries Science Center 2725 Montlake Blvd. East Seattle, WA 98112