The Micropollutants Analysis Laboratory/Section was established in 1997. It belongs to The Enviromental Quality Testing Laboratory

Facilities

The Micropollutants Analysis Laboratory is fitted out with modern equipment for analysing organic and inorganic compounds of water, wastewater, air, soil and sediments samples. Using high-tech apparatus such as:

• Atomic Absorption Spectrograph (AAS) analyses heavy metals: Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Hg,... in water, waswater, soil and sediment samples;
• Gas Chromatograph (GC) analyses pesticides (Total organo Chloride and Total organo Phosphorous) in water, waswater, soil and sediment samples; PolyChlorinated Biphenyl compounds (PCBs) in soil and oil of transformer samples;
• HPLC (High Perfomance Liquid Chromatography) analyses Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air, sediment and soil samples, 2,4-D in water, waswater and soil samples;
• Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrophotometer (GC/MS) analyses Dioxin in soil, flood and human adispose tissue (under method training).

These equipments have been mainly supplied through public funding from the Government of Vietnam and through our cooperation project with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne (EPFL) funded by the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC).

STAFF LIST

1. IER is one of three mainland stations of the National Environmental Monitoring System. We are in charge of monitoring and reporting environmental changes in Ho Chi Minh City and Mekong Delta Provinces (Station III) Through its cooperation project with EPFL, Switzerland, CEFINEA has been monitoring toxic material in water and sludge samples of Sai Gon - Dong Nai river basin, as well as air pollutants, identifying their sources and recommending solutions. Parameters analysed through this project:

• Heavy metals: Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cd, Hg,?;
• Pesticides: a-BHC, b-BHC, c-BHC, d-BHC, p-p'DDE, p-p'DDD, p-p'DDT; PCBs, PAHs (both in air and water);

2. Assessment of pollution level of PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) in air and sediment in Ho Chi Minh City - Proposition of prevention measures (1999)
3. Assessment of contamination by Arsenic and heavy metals in soil and groundwater of Ho Chi Minh City
4. Dioxin - sources and environmental behaviours