Journalist’s definition of Chromatography
Posted in Gas Chromatography on May 15, 2007
The AP released the highlights of the first day of Floyd Landis arbitration hearing in Malibu who is the first Tour de France winner in its 104-year history to be stripped of his title because he tested positive for steroids. What caught my attention and really made me laugh was The Mercury News definition of chromatography :
Chromatography is the process labs use to insert gas into a urine sample to separate out different compounds, which helps determine whether someone used steroids.
Related Reading:
![Simultaneous determination of 11 drugs belonging to four different groups in human urine samples by reversed-phase high-performance liquid ... [An article from: Analytica Chimica Acta]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415FBN4EPVL._SL160_.jpg "Simultaneous determination of 11 drugs belonging to four different groups in human urine samples by reversed-phase high-performance liquid ... [An article from: Analytica Chimica Acta]")
5 Responses to “Journalist’s definition of Chromatography”
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If that were the extent of the utility of chromatography, I think chemists would be seriously screwed.
Ed,
Thank you for your comment! I actually enjoy your blog immensely and I read it via RSS. You are such an eloquent science writer and you make topics of Molecular Biology, Evolution, and Public Health (something that would normally be on the edge of my research interests) so appealing. :)
Hello TBV,
I am not sure what type of chromatography was used in this particular case but for the IOC banned substances and forensic needs they use Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry – when the sample is volatilized and carried by inert gas (like nitrogen or helium) through a long and very thin tube to achieve separation of components followed by identification with MS.
So I guess that’s where the AP guy got confused and started bubbling gas thru urine :) I am not trying to be disrespectful here but it’s just very funny.
I never wrote for the AP but I would write something like this:
“Chromatography is the process labs use to separate out and identify different compounds. Gas Chromatography, a very sensitive type of chromatography, is commonly used on urine to test for steroids and drugs.”
Hi, the AP guy is usually a few rows away from me in the pressroom.
Give me a better description of the same length, and i’ll give it to him.
TBV
Ah journalists… sometimes you think they’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Sometimes you think they’re holding entirely the wrong stick altogether. Sometimes it seems like they’re not sure what a stick is at all and are waving a ukelele with great enthusiasm while the rest of the world looks on, smirking.
Sandesh – I like your blog. It’s quite a niche subject but you write about it well. I’ll stick up a link from mine at some point.
-Ed