Tekmar Talk Blog

With today’s blog, let’s get to know the employees of Teledyne Tekmar/Leeman Labs. The next person I I would like to introduce to you is Susan Scheib.

Susan Scheib wears many hats at Teledyne. Her primary focus is Service Agreement Manager for TACS and Depot Repair Manager for Teledyne Hastings. She is also involved as backup Import/Export Administrator for Teledyne Tekmar/Leeman Labs. She has been with Teledyne Tekmar for 22 years and began her full-time career as a Technical Support Specialist. Susan is well versed in all the products that Teledyne Tekmar/Leeman Labs manufactures and has quickly learned the Teledyne Hastings products in her new role there.

Let’s ask Susan some questions to get to know them better.

With today’s blog, let’s get to know the employees of Teledyne Tekmar/Leeman Labs. The next person I would like to introduce to you is Steve Proffitt.

Steve is an Applications Chemist for Teledyne Tekmar. He is an expert in Total Organic Carbon analysis using the Fusion, Torch, Lotix, and LSS Boat products. He is responsible for the overlap between marketing and chemistry. Steve helps develop analytical methods for testing customer samples, provide technical input during sales calls, and offer guidance for the complete line of carbon analyzers. Steve has been with Teledyne for 24 years. Steve was previously an R&D Scientist for 14 years and helped design the Fusion, Torch, Lotix, and LSS Boat as well as some of the VOC products. In his lengthy career at Teledyne Tekmar, Steve has also worked in Technical Support and as a Service Engineer.

Let’s ask Steve some questions to get to know him better.

With today’s blog, let’s get to know the employees of Teledyne Tekmar. The next person I would like to introduce you to is Amy Nutter.

Amy is the VOC Technical Product Specialist at Teledyne Tekmar. Currently, she is focused on fostering relationships with OEM partners by developing applications and webinars for the Purge and Trap product line. She also provides customer application support. Amy has been with Teledyne Tekmar for 5 years. She was previously the VOC Applications Chemist for the Purge and Trap product line.

Let’s ask Amy some questions to get to know her better.

With today’s blog, I thought maybe we could go down another direction and get to know the employees of Teledyne Tekmar/Leeman Labs. The first person I would like to introduce you to is Tyler Trent.

Tyler is the Elemental Product Marketing Manager for Teledyne Tekmar and Leeman Labs. He oversees the TOC, ICP and Hg product lines. Tyler is entering his 12^th year at Teledyne. Over the 12 years he has cover a wide range of roles.

Tyler was hired right out of college and has held the following positions: Application Chemist, Application Sales Specialist, Europe Middle East, and Africa Sales Manager and now his most recent role of Elemental Product Marketing Manager.

Let’s ask Tyler some questions to get to know him better.

Pharmaceutical production entails strict quality control and precise analytical testing methods. The United States Pharmacopeia (USP), European Pharmacopeia (EP) and Japanese Pharmacopeia (JP) have promoted TOC analysis as the analytical technique to verify that cleaning validation, purified water (PW) and water for intravenous injection (WFI) meet the high standards of the pharmaceutical industry.

Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is defined as the amount of carbon bound in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment.

Hello all,

For those of you who are reading this from your office, or laboratory, please do be safe and thank you for the essential functions that you continue to serve, despite the risk to you and your family. We are all grateful for your efforts. However, if you’re like me right now, you are reading this from home. While it is certainly an adjustment (how is it possible that two toddlers can sound like a herd of elephants migrating through a bubble wrap factory!?), it is very important for those of us who can, to stay home and slow the spread of COVID-19. All the same, it is probably difficult being away from your instruments, even if this is a good time to catch up on other tasks. When all of this comes to an end, and eventually we return to work, in what kind of condition will we find our instruments?

Bees are in trouble. Managed bee colonies in the United States have decreased from 6 million in 1947 to 2.5 million in 2016. This is more than a simple threat to the honey supply. Bees are crucial to food supply, and in fact, one-third of what we eat comes form insect-pollinated plants. The honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination.

Understanding the impact of pesticides has become a major fight of the Environmental Protection Agency, which recently found that “A major pesticide harms honeybees when used on cotton and citrus, but not on other crops like corn, berries and tobacco.”

The EPA completed the first scientific risk assessment of the neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides debated by scientists, environmentalists and beekeepers. This is the first of four risk reports for this class of chemicals, which include neonicotinoids, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and dinotefuran. This is also the first

 time the EPA has actually acknowledged that a major pesticide is killing bees. Anti-pesticide groups want to ban the pesticides, which works on the central nervous systems of insects. Europe banned neonics, but then lifted the ban.

The Environmental Working Group published its annual Dirty Dozen list of the 12 fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residue. Topping the list the last five year were apples, but this year, strawberries were the most contaminated.

According to an EWG news release about the 2016 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, “Nearly all strawberry samples - 98 percent - tested by federal officials had detectable pesticide residues. Forty percent had residues of 10 or more pesticides and some had residues of 17 different pesticides. Some of the chemicals detected on strawberries are relatively benign, but others are linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental damage, hormone disruption and neurological problems.

“Strawberries were once a seasonal, limited crop, but heavy use of pesticides has increased yield and stretched the growing season. In California, where most U.S. strawberries are grown, each acre is treated with an astonishing 300 pounds of pesticides. More than 60 pounds are conventional chemicals that may leave post-harvest residues but most are fumigants - volatile poison gases that can drift into nearby schools and neighborhoods.”

Teledyne Tekmar recently released a new guide that compares Total Organic Carbon analysis techniques. The guide provides important details for users and recommends the best instrument for your specific application. TOC analysis, which is used in a variety of labs, is a technique employed to determine water cleanliness and purity. It is a required test by the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), European Pharmacopoeia (EP) and Japanese Pharmacopoeia (JP), and is frequently used to monitor wastewater, soils and drinking water safety.