Education B.S. 1973, Tusculum College Ph.D. 1978, Virginia Polytechnic

Analytical Chemistry/Physical Chemistry

Applied analytical chemistry, trace analysis of environmental and geological samples

Members of Professor Gene Halls research team will be trained with the latest state-of-the-art instrumentation in analytical chemistry. These instruments include a Fisons Instruments PlasmaQuad 2+ ICPMS, a Finnigan Element High Resolution ICPMS, and a gradient HPLC system. Your multidiscipline education will include biological, statistical, environmental, and analytical chemistry. After receiving your training and degree under my supervision, you will have excellent marketable skills to obtain employment in the exciting field of analytical chemistry. The focus of Professor Halls research team is composed of two major themes.

Identification and quantification of Pb, Cu, and Zn binding proteins in human tissues Theme one is bio-analytical chemistry and focuses on the identification and quantification of Pb, Cu, and Zn binding proteins in human biological tissues. In collaboration with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) - Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, we obtain samples of human blood, follicular fluid, and amniotic fluid. We use high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as the method to identify and separate metal binding proteins in these fluids. The output flow solution from the HPLC is fed to our inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS) to quantify elements bound to the proteins. This research allows for the first time a unique analytical method (HPLC-ICPMS) to investigate the effects of Pb speciation on metal binding proteins and Pb toxicity.

Environmental analytical chemistry: identification of sources of Pb in drinking water Our second theme of research is environmental analytical chemistry that focuses on identification of sources of Pb in drinking water. Because Pb has four stable isotopes, we determine the differences in the amount of these isotopes in drinking water. This unique water lead isotope "fingerprint" is compared to lead isotope "fingerprints" from plumbing materials that include solder, faucets, valves, and Cu pipe. The "fingerprints" are determined by ICPMS and statistical methods are used to determine the source(s) of Pb contamination.

S. Xue, G.F. Herzog, G.S. Hall, B. Dong, and D.E. Brownlee, Nickel isotope abundances of Type I Deep-Sea Spheres and of Iron-Nickel Spherules from Alberta (Canada) Sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 59, 4975-4981, 1995. S. Yu, G. S. Hall, D. Persuad, S. Marcus and T. Jennis, Chronology of Pb Isotope Ratios and Concentrations in Biological Fluids From a Gun-Shot Victim. ICP Information Newsletter, Vol 22, 61, 1996.