Taiwan develops new method to speed up dioxin detection

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201409020040.aspx
Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) Taiwan has developed a new method for fast detection of dioxin compounds, for use primarily in large-scale investigations of dioxin contamination, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Tuesday.
The cost of a typical instrument for dioxin analysis is about NT$10 million (US$334,057) and the process usually takes a long time, the EPA said.
It said such instruments, therefore, are not suitable for the detection of dioxins, in investigations and studies.
In an effort to address the problem, the EPA said, it began in 2004 to use a new analytic method of dioxin detection adopted from abroad. However, while the patented technique was easy to use, it cost Taiwan NT$750,000 in patent fees per year, the EPA added.
The EPA said its Environmental Analysis Laboratory, in collaboration with the National Health Research Institutes, began working on a similar technique in 2008 and succeeded in developing a suitable one after three years of research.
The locally developed technique is six times faster than the normal methods and costs about the one-tenth of the price, according to the EPA. It can also test 10 times the number of samples per batch than other methods, the EPA said.
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