Short tutorials on column chromatography

If someone ever needed a tutorial for doing simple column chromatography for high-school or any other demonstration, Chemistry Views made some nice text discussing even 2D Thin Layer Chromatography !

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GC-MS chemist arrested - The Fukushima of forensics and the "Dry Labbing"

Recently chemist and chromatographer Annie Dookhan was arrested in Boston, Mass., USA and acused for tampering of evidence and justice obstruction.

Annie supposelly didn't test all samples but instead used the "dry labbing" procedure (I really never imagined they had a name for that!),  or just tested a few samples and list the other as positive.

It's not clear the reason she made this, if it was just to demonstrate efficience, she use to test 500 samples monthly while other analysts teste between 50 and 150. There's also an atipical involvement with a prosecutor, which is considered not ethic and even cause the suspect of an affair in Annie's husband.

What really surprise me is that she could over pass all the traditional Quality Assurance steps involved in today's analytical chemistry: Blind sample rounds, control charts and such. However, supposing that each analyst prepare his own sample if she contaminate the sample with cocaine before next chemist take the sample, there is no quality control can solve this.

Below is a description of possible routine in the Mass. Drug lab made by the Boston Globe:

Reproduction  from http://www.bostonglobe.com/

Sources:

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2012/10/chemist-arrested-forensics-drug-samples

 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mass-chemist-accused-faking-police-lab-drug-tests-face-charges-article-1.1171044?pgno=1

 http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/12008629622818/annie-dookhan-s-education-questioned-in-drug-lab-scandal/

 http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/south/12008654191891/dookhan-chemist-in-drug-lab-scandal-arrested/

http://www.thetruthaboutforensicscience.com/tag/annie-dookhan/

 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57522579-504083/annie-dookhan-chemist-at-mass-crime-lab-arrested-for-allegedly-mishandling-over-60000-samples/

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/09/28/arrest-warrants-issued-for-annie-dookhan-in-state-drug-testing-lab-scandal/

http://www.wbur.org/2012/12/17/drug-lab-charges

http://www.wbur.org/2012/09/28/chemist-dookhan-charges

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