The JEOL AccuTOF™-DART® 4G mass spectrometer has been chosen as one of the key technologies in a new mobile laboratory developed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  The new lab was officially christened on November 3, 2022 at the Clark R. Bavin National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland Oregon.¹

The new laboratory, nicknamed “The Woodshed”, was constructed to carry out timber analyses at ports of entry. It will be used to identify illegally traded timber from endangered species and facilitate the legal timber trade. The laboratory, designed by the staff of the National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Lab, features the AccuTOF-DART mass spectrometer, a visual comparator, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) systems for elemental analysis, and 240V generator for off-grid analysis.

Ambient ionization, a key technology of the JEOL AccuTOF™-DART® 4G mass spectrometer, provides a unique benefit to this lab. The instrument pushes ionized gas particles through an open chamber to identify the molecular structure of any object that passes through the ionized stream. For scientists using this instrument in “The Woodshed”, this means they save time by skipping the sample preparation process, allowing them to process and identify greater quantities of illegally traded timber.

The AccuTOF™-DART® 4G DART was invented in 2003 by Dr. Robert “Chip” Cody of JEOL USA. JEOL is a world leader in manufacturing equipment and instrumentation for demanding scientific and industrial research and development. Core product groups include analytical instruments including mass spectrometers, NMRs, and ESRs and electron microscopes (SEMs and TEMs).

¹https://www.fws.gov/law-enforcement/clark-r-bavin-national-fish-and-wildlife-forensics-laboratory)