Midwest Laboratories Standardizes on the Thermo Fisher Scientific iCAP 6000 Series ICP Emission Spectrometer to Perform Fast and Sensitive Soil Analyses

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, announces that Midwest Laboratories, Inc. has chosen the powerful Thermo Scientific iCAP 6000 Series of ICP emission spectrometers to perform soil analyses in its agricultural laboratory. Featuring the most sensitive and compact ICP emission spectrometers available on the market, the iCAP 6000 Series allows Midwest Laboratories to process approximately 2,000-3,000 samples per day, evaluating the nutrient levels of soil while advising farmers on the type and amount of fertilizer to use to achieve and maintain optimum growth levels.

Midwest Laboratories, located in Nebraska, USA, offers extended analytical capabilities in agricultural, feed, microbiological, food, organics and environmental analyses. The company’s agricultural laboratory supports the local farmer and fertilizer companies by providing comprehensive soil and foliage sample processing to determine uptake levels of nutrients. On a typical day, the laboratory examines an extremely high number of samples, meaning that analysis time is absolutely key; a saving of just one second on each sample translates into a saving of hours at the end of a working day.

Barry Blessing, supervisor at Midwest Laboratories, comments: “Since the implementation of the Thermo Scientific iCAP 6000 Series in October 2006, the instrument has run thousands of readings offering precise results quickly and efficiently and with minimum cost and maintenance.”

The iCAP 6000 Series ensures rapid analysis of high intensity signals while accumulating lower intensity signals over a longer time, resulting in optimum signal to noise and resistance to saturation. The iCAP 6000 Series handles all sample types over a wide dynamic range and at an increased sample throughput. A distributed purge system offers reduced gas consumption whereas the inherent capabilities of fully automated wavelength calibration and offset correction ensure excellent long-term stability.

The iCAP 6000 Series has been awarded the Gold Award at the Instrument Business Outlook (IBO) Design Awards 2006 for excellence in industrial design and it also received an honorable mention at the Editor’s Choice Awards at PITTCON^® 2006.