STABLE ISOTOPE LABORATORY

Services and Charges*

Please note that prices have dropped for many procedures!

(prices updated January 2006)

* External prices reflect the cost of analysis plus projected Boston University overhead. 
Internal prices are available to Boston University PI's and their collaborators.
Isotope Sample Matrix
Analysis
Price Price
      (internal) (external)
Doubly-Labeled Water (enriched):        
  Body fluids (metabolic):1      
    18O water 10.00 20.00
    HD water 10.00 20.00
    Blood distillation 1.25 2.00
  Liquid Samples:2      
    18O water 10.00 20.00
    HD water 10.00 20.00
    HD prepared 6.00 12.00
Fluid Samples (Natural Abundance):        
    18O water3 10.00 20.00
    HD water3 10.00 20.00
Continuous flow samples for both 13C and 15N:        
    Customer prep 8.00 10.00
    Laboratory prep 9.50 12.00
13C and 15N from the same sample (manual analysis)     25.00 50.00
% C or % N only6   Customer prep 1.80 3.60
    Laboratory prep 2.10 4.20
         
13C
Tissue: plant/animal
     
    Continuous Flow (preloaded)4 6.00 8.00
    Continuous Flow (dried material) 7.50 9.50
    Manual analysis/ special handling5 12.50 25.00
 
Soil, sediment
     
    Continuous Flow (preloaded)4 6.00 8.00
    Continuous Flow (dried material) 7.50 9.50
    Manual analysis/special handling5 12.50 25.00
 
Carbonate
MuliFlow Carbonate Procedure 12.00 22.00
 
Water for DIC7
  15.00 25.00
 
Blood Bicarbonate
  16.00 26.00
 
CO2 gas samples
Sealed ampoules 6.00 12.00
 
CO2 in air (500 ml minimum)
  12.00 22.00
 
Breath CO2
  12.00 22.00
         
15N Tissue: plant/animal      
   

Automated analysis (preloaded)4

6.00 8.00
    Manual analysis/special handling5 16.50 33.00
    Continuous Flow (dried material) 7.50 9.50
 
Soil, sediment
     
    Continuous Flow (preloaded)4 6.00 8.00
    Manual analysis special handling5 16.50 33.00
    Continuous Flow (dried material) 7.50 9.50
 
N2 Gas Samples
Sealed ampoules 6.00 12.00
 
Water for NH4
  35.00 60.00
 
Water for NO3
  35.00 60.00
Cryofocus 15N samples, 50-500 nmoles N
Solid samples
     
    Customer prep 10.00 15.00
    Laboratory prep 11.50 17.00

The following procedures are currently not available. If there is sufficient demand, sulfur could be made available in late 2006.

Isotope Sample Matrix Internal Price External Price
34S Tissue plant/animal 35.00 70.00
  As BaSO4 25.00 50.00
  As sulfide (FeS or AgS) 30.00 60.00
  Water 25.00 50.00

 

FOOTNOTES 

1 Because of the inherent variability of deuterium and 18O in field metabolism studies, we routinely run triplicate analyses (in general reporting duplicate analyses) of the fluids (plasma, saliva, blood, urine), which is reflected in the cost of the sample. We strongly recommend running replicate analyses (if sample size permits) to obtain accurate CO2 production levels. 

2 Other fluids (e.g. plant or soil water) using enriched isotopes. A single sample is analyzed and a replicate is run for every 10 samples. 

3 Any fluid or water samples analyzed for 18O or deuterium at natural abundance levels. A single sample is analyzed and a replicate is run for every 10 samples.

4 These include samples run using the GV Instruments IsoPrime IRMS and Eurovector elemental analyzer. All plant and animal tissue should be well ground and dry (in most cases a 60ºC drying oven is adequate for drying). Use a mortar and pestle for animal samples and a Wiley Mill with a 40-mesh screen or better for plant samples.

5 Samples requiring special handling and manual analysis may include filters, soil samples low in carbon or nitrogen, samples that need acidification to remove carbonates, etc.

6 Customer prepared samples will be invoiced for the total number of boats shipped. Sample replicates or standards packed by the customer are treated as regular samples. For example, if a sample tray contains 96 samples, it is treated as 96 samples, regardless if there are two or twenty replicates.

7 DIC water samples should be collected to overflowing in glass bottles, then preserved with ca. 1 ml of 1% HgCl2. Store at room temperature.

8 There should be a minimum of 1µmole/liter N for both nitrate and ammonia in the solution. Please contact the lab for procedures to concentrate and preserve the solution.


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