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chemistry 4
C H E M I S T R Y
is essentially problem-solving in nature. of the territorial marking fluid of the Ben-
Much of the research in environmental pol- gal tiger, Panthera tigris; preliminary field
lution, an area in which a number of univer- tests with some of the constituents of the
sity chemistry departments are involved, fluid have produced promising results. In
falls into this category. All the same, there respect of new analytical techniques, the
are a number of research programmes at laboratory has developed and patented a
universities which can be classified as be- novel modulator for comprehensive two-
ing either analytical and/or environmen- dimensional gas chromatography (GC x
tal chemistry, and which are undoubtedly GC) of semiochemical secretions and other
ground-breaking. complex samples. It costs a fraction of avail-
able commercial instrumentation, and has
The Laboratory for Ecological Chemistry
practically no running costs. Furthermore,
(LECUS) at the University of Stellenbosch
the development of a patented, high-ca-
focuses on the development of techniques
pacity (high-sensitivity) sample enrichment
for the analysis of trace quantities of volatile
probe (SEP) is a major contribution to semi-
organic compounds and the application
ochemical sample enrichment technology.
of these methods in the analysis of insect,
mammalian, avian and reptile semiochemi- A major programme covers the area of at-
cals (e.g. pheromones), the analysis of air mospheric chemistry, aimed at providing
and water pollutants, and the identifica- key information to support the develop-
tion of ‘off-flavours’ in food and beverages. ment of sustainable air quality policies and
In respect of insect pheromones, all of the practices in Southern Africa. The influence
dung beetle pheromones that have so far of activities associated with human and in-
been identified worldwide were isolated, dustrial development as well as natural bio-
characterised and assayed by LECUS. The geochemical processes typical of the region
high cost of game-capturing operations (e.g. biomass burning) are the main focus
has created a need for the development points. The research of the programme is
of alternative methods for controlling the three-pronged: theoretical studies (includ-
movement and translocation of wild ani- ing modelling), laboratory experimentation
mals. In this context, LECUS has contributed and environmental analysis. Specific cur-
a large volume of chemical knowledge on rent research projects include the study of
the exocrine secretions of mammals. For the mechanisms of oxidation processes of
instance, it has produced an estimated 40% atmospheric pollutants; the biofiltration of
of all the verified chemical information that volatile organic carbon compounds, includ-
is currently available on mammalian semi- ing methane; the effect of the C2 chlorohy-
ochemicals, with practically the entire vol- drocarbons on crop plants; the deposition
ume of information currently available on of trichloroacetic acid on the vegetation
the chemical composition of the exocrine of different pollution gradients (a joint
secretions of South African antelope be- German-South African project); and the
ing produced by the laboratory. A current development of predictive capabilities by
investigation involves the characterisation using atmospheric models. As part of the
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