The Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) at San Diego State University presently occupies five rooms in Hardy Memorial Tower dedicated primarily for environmental-analytical work. The analytical capabilities of the GSPH laboratories for supporting environmental health research are arguably the most sophisticated and state-of-the-art in the whole San Diego Region.
The laboratories are furnished with sophisticated instruments to analyze the elements and small molecules. These include a LECO Pegasus 4D comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC/TOF-MS) for untargeted organic analyses (e.g. PCBs, PBDEs and PAHs), an Agilent 6460 liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometer LC/MS/MS) for pharmaceutical and personal care product analyses, an Agilent 6890 gas chromatography with 5972 mass spectrometry for targeted organic analysis, and an Agilent 7000 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) for elemental (heavy metal) analysis.
The laboratories also have a collection of instruments for genetic studies including instruments for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and qPCR , electrophoresis and Western or other blot applications, and DNA damage analysis using the microscopic Comet assay. The EH Division faculty also encourage students to do fieldwork on a global scale, and to support this the school also has a host of environmental monitoring equipment for field use, including personal sampling pumps, heat, ionizing & non-ionizing radiation monitors, real-time gas and dust monitors, and water and sediment sampling equipment.
