Phase 2 (2006 Deadline)
Capacity Building and Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedures for the
Network of Water Quality Laboratories in Pakistan
Michael T. Meyer and Ingrid M. Verstraeten, US Geological Survey (USGS), Reston, VA
Muhammad Akram Kahlown, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), Islamabad
Pakistani Funding (MoST): $30,000
US Funding: $45,000
Project Dates: February 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008
Project Overview
In this one-year project, USGS personnel worked with PCRWR technical and research staff to develop an organic analysis capacity and to provide a comprehensive laboratory review of all facets of the PCRWR laboratories. The specific project objectives were to review all aspects of the PCRWR laboratories, prioritize pollutants for study, and provide expertise and training to implement specific and well-established methods for the analysis of widely applied herbicides using solid-phase extraction (SPE) gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS); to provide a comprehensive laboratory review of the current inorganic analysis program, including quality assurance and quality control procedures, operational procedures, methods, and protocols; and to Initiate advanced comprehensive training on analytical methods, instrumentation, and technologies used to analyze and evaluate organic contaminants, including persistent organic pesticides (POPs) and their degradates, at the USGS Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory.
Major Results
- Conducted training to evaluate the status of the National Water Quality Laboratory organic contaminants program
- Conducted a comprehensive review of all aspects of the laboratory during the US PI’s mission to Pakistan
- Developed a priority list based on available information in Pakistan and chemical characteristics of the pesticides
- Provided training to staff members, chemists, microbiologists and technicians at PCRWR
- Established linkage with the United Nation’s Children’s Fund in Islamabad
Progress Report Summaries
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2008 Show summary || Hide summary
The primary Pakistani counterpart, PCRWR Chairman Dr. Muhammad Akram Kahlown, made a final visit on the project January 26-February 6, 2008, accompanied by Dr. Muhammad Aslam Tahir, director general of the PCRWR National Water Quality Laboratory, and Mr. Abdul Raoof, regional director of the PCRWR Regional Center in Lahore. The group met with their counterparts at USGS facilities in Kansas and Colorado and with staff from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional labs in Ohio and Kansas.
Although this project has been completed, Dr. Verstraeten and other USGS personnel will be continuing and expanding their collaboration with their Pakistani partners thanks to other funding that Dr. Verstraeten has secured from the US Department of State.
2007 Show summary || Hide summary
Work to accomplish these objectives proceeded in three phases. In June 2007 Dr. Verstraeten, Dr. Meyer, Dr. Mary Voytek, and Mr. Tedmund Struzeski visited Islamabad for one week to provide training to PCRWR analytical lab personnel, review procedures at the lab, and work with lab staff to develop and prioritize a list of contaminants of concern for which the lab would be capable of analyzing. They prepared a detailed interim report on this visit including recommendations for actions to be taken by PCRWR. In phase two of the project, two PCRWR staff members, Ms. Saiqa Imran, chemist and technical manager, and Ms. Hifza Rasheed, microbiologist and deputy director of the PCRWR National Water Quality Laboratory, visited the USGS offices in Kansas and Colorado October 22 through November 16, 2007, for organic and inorganic chemistry training focused on specific aspects of the analytical method implemented at PCRWR in phase one.
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