Instrumentation: State of the art scientific testing equipment is utilized for the analysis of samples in this laboratory. A few examples of equipment housed in the ULM Soil-Plant Analysis Laboratory include Inductively Coupled Plasmas, Graphite Furnaces, Gas Chromatographs and Flow Injection Mercury Systems.
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Soil Testing: Samples are routinely analyzed for existing nutrient levels. These levels are used to make recommendations for the addition of fertilizer and lime, which ultimately results in achieving conditions for optimum plant growth.
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Plant Tests: Plant tissue analysis is offered routinely. Plant tissue is dried and ground. Subsamples of the ground tissue are tested for current nutrient levels and compared to normal levels.
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Water & Wastewater: Many types of metals, minerals, pesticides, microbiologicals, nutrients and additional standard water tests are performed daily.
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Drinking Water: Metals and minerals are analyzed in drinking water samples by graphite furnace, which is a popular method of choice in reaching the smaller required detection limits.
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Micro Biologicals: Total coliform and fecal coliform analysis is completed daily on many types of water samples. Methods used in the lab include both membrane filter and presence/absence techniques.
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Pesticides: Many residual pesticide scans are performed on several types of sample matrices, including water, soil, plant tissue, animal tissue and sediment.
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Oil & Gas Fields: Drilling mud samples are analyzed by methodology outlined in Statewide Order 29-B. Samples must be tested during pit closures in Louisiana and must meet the SW29-B criteria.
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Metals & Minerals: Elements in both dissolved and total forms are analyzed on numerous sample types, which range from drinking water to fish tissue.
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