In the In Depth section of this month's Newsletter we interviewed the Technical Manager of the Chemistry Service of the ICM-CSIC.
Maravillas Abad, or Mara, as she is familiarly called, started working at the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) more than 16 years ago as a laboratory chemist to work in the Nutrients Laboratory, now called the Chemistry Service. Her previous experience of more than 20 years in the private sector, starting in the commercial area of hospital scientific instrumentation (Reichert Jung microtome and Boehringer Mannheim autoanalyzer) and continuing in different marketing departments of sectors such as perfumery (L'Oreal and Puig) and optics (Indoptica), give her a broad and versatile work profile. She is currently the Technical Manager of the ICM-CSIC Chemistry Service, where she works together with the current Head of Service, Dr. Elisa Berdalet, with whom they form a coordinated scientific-technical tandem.
1. What is the ICM Chemistry Service?
It is one of the oldest ICM-CSIC services, and has its roots in a similar laboratory promoted by Dr. Antoni Ballester i Nolla and settled in the previous ICM-CSIC building, the Institut de Investigaciones Pesqueras (IIP). We currently determine inorganic nutrients (nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, phosphate and silicate), as well as organic carbon, nitrogen and total phosphorus in incoming samples.
2. What is the first thing you do when you get to work?
I become a laboratory technician: I put on my lab coat, a special footwear, and the basic personal protective equipment (PPE). Then I check the auxiliary equipment and the autoanalyzers to make sure that everything is working properly (as some of them must be left on for 24 hours), and I start preparing the analysis of the samples scheduled for the current day. For example, to determine the different inorganic nutrients in a sample, these are introduced into an extensive and complex hydraulic circuit with different channels in which a series of chemical reactions occur in a synchronized manner. A detector then records the signal or light intensity associated with each chemical species, so that the concentration of each nutrient can be estimated.
3. It seems very sophisticated and delicate…
Yes, to ensure the repeatability of these procedures it is very important to wash, check and adjust the mechanical, hydraulic, thermal and optical performance of the instruments beforehand. In addition, the reagents must always be kept at the same temperature, and some of the reagents we use must also be prepared daily. The dilution battery of standards is also prepared daily from stock solutions. In this way we obtain a scale of known concentrations as close as possible to the origin of the liquid samples to be determined.
4. What else should be taken into account when analysing seawater samples?
The many salts they contain must be taken into account, as these shorten the maintenance periods of the analysis equipment and make it necessary to change the consumable parts frequently. In addition, the circuits and must be kept extremely clean to ensure optimal detection of substances, minimizing possible underlying contamination. Finally, electronic interference must be avoided.
5. Who uses this service?
The service can be used by researchers from the ICM-CSIC itself -to whom priority is given- as well as from other CSIC centers, all kinds of official public bodies and even private companies. During all these years, the service has contributed to numerous scientific publications, doctoral theses and environmental reports. We are proud to be involved, with our results, in large research projects, studies of the quality of port and aquaculture facilities waters, evolution of water quality in coasts, bays, marshes, wetlands, wells, wastewater treatment plants, lakes or rivers all over the world. Water chemistry tells us about the health of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and, in general, of the entire planet.
6. What kind of companies require your services?
Our contribution is relevant for national and international environmental companies in which our results, together with other parameters, are taken into account to elaborate environmental impact reports. A good example could be the studies prior and subsequent to the installation and start-up of offshore oil farms, aquaculture facilities, desalination and wastewater treatment plants.
7. Which is the most popular request?
There is not a star determination, since during the year the requests are very spread out. To give you an idea, every year approximately 1500 samples of total or dissolved organic carbon, 6000 samples of the five essential inorganic nutrients and about 500 samples of total phosphorus and nitrogen are determined.
8. How have the analyses changed over the years?
The basic principle of the analyses has not changed, but the equipment has undergone significant technical improvements. For example, colorimeters have evolved by replacing the traditional light source and filter with a LED source that emits a specific light intensity for each chemical species. There has also been a substantial improvement in the sensitivity of some methods by replacing the 1cm glass cuvette with a sophisticated 1m fiber optic capable of determining phosphate and nitrite at 1000 times lower levels. This is key for quantifying these substances in deep water bodies, which are particularly poor in these nutrients.
9. Are there more laboratories like yours?
Probably, the ICM-CSIC Chemistry Service is one of the most important in terms of nutrient determinations in Mediterranean countries. As proof of our commitment to improvement and quality in our analysis, we participate in international intercalibration exercises and our analyses have contributed in collaborations as important as those of the IOCCP Jamstec (Japan 2015-2016). In addition, next June we will participate in the International Nutrient Inter-comparison Voyage (INIV), an intercalibration exercise of inorganic nutrient analysis that we have been preparing for years and we are particularly excited about.
10. Tell us an anecdote you remember!
One summer we suddenly received more than 460 samples from a university in France for nutrient analysis. The samples came with a huge box of chocolates as a reward for the willingness to analyse them during the summer period and in record time. Another thing I am very proud of is the work we have been doing for years to educate young people and disseminate our work. In all the time that I have been in the Chemistry Service we have trained more than 13 people and we have received numerous visits from institutes and universities. In addition, we transmit our knowledge to other laboratories so that they can progress and we can establish synergies with them.
11. Do you think your work is enough valued?
Overall, yes. Apart from the fact that the priority is to offer consistent, coherent and well contrasted data, we are recognized and valued for the speed with which we send the results, as well as the flexibility of schedules for the reception and analysis of the samples. We are pleased with the compliments of the ICM-CSIC staff, but also with the loyalty of those outside the centre and the environmental companies that repeat and recommend us. Finally, I would like to thank the strong collaboration and team spirit that our Institute transmits, allowing my small contribution in several Working Committees such as Waste or Sustainability.