Environment Crime Scene Investigation
Deep in the heart of the Ministry of the Environment’s labs, a molecular detective is hard at work. The Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer (FTMS) is a piece of state-of-the-art equipment that can sift through thousands of chemical compounds and pick out toxic chemicals in the environment.
The FTMS used by the Ministry of the Environment’s lab is the only one of its kind in the world. It’s also the first to be used primarily for environmental investigations. It has the unique capability of “accurately weighing” molecules and identifying them by their unique chemical fingerprints.
“It provides the ‘smoking gun’ evidence of a suspected environmental contaminant,” says Dr. Vince Taguchi, senior research scientist. “You could say the identification of chemicals in environmental samples is like DNA sequencing in blood samples for crime scene investigations.”
Advanced FTMS “fingerprinting” can be used to analyze unknown substances and offers faster results in the event of an emergency.
FTMS technology has been used to provide critical data for cases of environmental contamination. For example, a spill occurred in 2008 near Mississauga, at an industrial site where a chemical was being loaded into a storage tank. The material reached the on-site storm sewer, and eventually flowed into a nearby river. Aquatic toxicity testing of the surface water samples showed a high degree of toxicity. Data from the FTMS proved that the contaminant originated at the site of the spill, resulting in charges under the Environmental Protection Act.
In a 2010 incident near London, a farmer was spraying his cherry trees with a pesticide when winds carried the pesticide onto nearby property, covering the neighbour’s cherry trees, and exposing the house exterior, house interior and the resident. The FTMS analyzed the samples and showed that some of the pesticide had carried over to the neighbour’s cherry trees and house exterior, but the inside of the house and its resident were not exposed.
“These examples illustrate the importance of the FTMS in providing the ministry with enhanced capabilities to respond to emergencies and to manage environmental problems,” says Dr. Taguchi. “Because of tools like this, we are better able to ensure the safety of the citizens of Ontario.”
