Osmolality - Its Not Just For Blood Work Anymore
Written on January 29, 2008 – 6:06 am | by admin
Check Reagents to verify purity.
Check water to screen for contaminants.
Check sports drinks to document quality.
Check urine to monitor dehydration.
The osmometer is known in the clinical laboratory, but almost unknown outside those doors.
Osmometers very accurately measure the freezing point depression of a, usually aqueous, solution. Osmometers measure the total number of molecules dissolved in a solution. An osmometer measures molality.
When a reagent is prepared it contains a certain number of particles. Each time the same reagent is prepared, it should contain the same number of particles, but how do you know? Simple, by measuring its Osmolality.
Water samples are measured for Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) routinely to estimate environmental pollution. TDS can be measured by conductivity, but conductivity only estimates TDS and does not measure uncharged dissolved solids. TDS is also measured gravimetrically, but volatile compounds, like alcohols, are lost on evaporation of the water so that the solids can be weighed. Osmometry measures all compounds dissolved in the water.
The drinking water industry is taking off. Nobody wants to drink tap water anymore. More and more bottled water is being sold. Newer bottled water companies are gaining some market share by adding minerals, nutrients, and vitamins to water drinks. Osmometry allows these companies to quickly and inexpensively monitor the quality of their products.
Athletes do a lot of exercise. How can they know when enough is enough? How can they know if they are dehydrating? How can they know if they drank enough water to rehydrate? Simple, their urine can be measured by osmometry. Changes in the Osmolality of urine indicate when to stop exercising, and when they can start again.
These are but a few examples of a little known, but powerful fast, and easy screening tool. An osmometer is a simple, fairly low cost instrument with a lot of applications providing one number that packs a lot of information.
William Lipps
http://www.oico.com
(979) 690-1375 ext. 230
wlipps@oico.com
One Extraction, One Dilution, One Injection, Automation solutions.
Segmented Flow, Flow Injection, Discrete Analyzers, TOC Analyzers, Sample Introduction, Gas Chromatography, Gel Permiation, Purge & Trap
Expert Methods Consulting
http://www.williamlipps.com
Classical Wet Chemistry, HPLC, IC, GC, GC/MS, SFA, FIA, Discrete, TOC, TOX, UV-VIS, IR, Osmometry, Petroleum, Proximate Analysis, Extractions, Digestions
Tags: dissolved salts, osmolality, osmometer, osmometry, quality control, TDS, testing, urine, water