What Is Chromatography Used for in Everyday Life?

You may not have known you were using it, but almost every person in the world has used it. It's called Chromatography and often you use it without knowing. What is Chromatography used for?

Chromatography exists in the field of science, but it's used in the pharmaceutical industry, chemical, and food industries too. Chromatography is the process that separates compounds into various components of any substance, and by the process occurring, you can fight off diseases or detect spoilage in food. Chromatography can also ascertain organic acid levels in food to determine food quality. 

Read on to find out fascinating information about all the day-to-day applications of Chromatography and how you use it and even depend on it during your daily schedule. 

What is Chromatography Used For?

There are five common applications that Chromatography is used for. Chromatography enables a rapid analysis when you're trying to prevent the outbreak of spoilage for the food industry, minimizing health risks for the pharmaceutical companies and more. Insulin goes through insulin purification through Chromatography's HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) Protein Separation. 

The other applications of HPLC are used in Plasma Fractionation and Enzyme Purification. It's not uncommon to have to determine if your HPLC is going to be a normal-phase or reversed-phase. Normal-phase HPLC is the stationary phase that is hydrophobic. Reversed-phase HPLC is the mobile phase and hydrophilic. 

Now you need to determine your HPLC Column. The column you pick is considered the most important component, and its physical and chemical characteristics are what determines the degree of separation in the column. You should use a guide for HPLC Columns to ensure a quicker and more precise separation.

In general, the five most common applications for Chromatography are as follows:

#1 - Medical and Pharmaceutical Industries

The medical and pharmaceutical industries use Chromatography for creating vaccines. Chromatography can determine which antibodies work best in fighting against disease and viruses. Chromatography was used by scientists in the Ebola virus outbreak and is still being used today to fight the coronavirus. 

The Ebola virus killed over 11,000 people, and it was through the development of an experimental vaccine called Zmapp that scientists found that they could neutralize the deadly virus. Scientists found it once they found out which antibodies were most effective at fighting the disease.

#2 - Food Processing and Testing

The contents of processed meat have become a driving point for the USDA and other country's food testing agencies. That's because, in 2013, it was discovered that horsemeat was being passed off as beef, and it wasn't caught for a while. That's when the food industry determined the food analysis methods they were using needed to change.

Chromatography became the go-to frontrunner in determining what content was in processed meats. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was combined with mass spectrometry (HPCL-MS) to make sure meat that was labeled as beef was beef. It could even determine if the beef had been mixed with horsemeat, which in turn helped protect consumers.

#3 - Drink and Beverage Testing

Unfortunately, it's not just food that needs content testing, and that's why many drink manufacturers now use Chromatography to ensure that each of their bottled products is the same. Consistent taste is the name of the game and knowing the content of every bottle ensures taste is a pro-active method measurement to use.

#4 - Pharmaceutical and Drug Testing

Chromatography is used as an applicational tool continuously in the drug testing industry. Every drug you take that flows through your bloodstream has already been tested by accurately identifying the substances in the drug. Almost every competitive team sport now tests for performance-enhancing drugs.

Sports teams do that through the use of Chromatography. They are now able to test and find out exactly which performance-enhancing drug a player has taken if they test positive. Also, Chromatography is used for the separation of chiral compounds by the pharmaceutical industry when needed.

Pharmaceutical chiral compounds have molecules with atoms that are slightly different in how they are oriented in space. The molecules are identical in every other way except for the difference of how the atoms are oriented in space. It's that small difference that can have a huge impact on how the medicine reacts and processes biological activity.

A famous example is the compound Thalidomide. Thalidomide has two optical isomers. One optical isomer causes congenital disabilities, and one doesn't. That's why Chromatography is so essential in providing consumers safe drug compounds. 

#5 - Forensic Science and Testing

You've probably watched CSI and noticed Chromatography helped to solve a crime. Gas Chromatography is used by law enforcement all the time in analyzing blood and cloth samples. Chromatography allows forensic scientists to pinpoint who and what was present at a crime scene. 

There are times Chromatography can even help forensic scientists and investigators find out where the alleged perpetrator and victim were before the crime happened. It's incredibly helpful in court because there's no room for error. It's also used in arson investigations because most fires have a virtual cocktail of different compounds and substances. 

Every compound and substance varies in size and weight. It's the varying compounds and substances break-down that help determine what exactly started the fire. It has no error margin; therefore, it can help identify criminals and bring them to justice. 

Find Out More

Now that you know the basics about what is Chromatography used for and how is it applied you know Chromatography is the superhero of the medical, legal, and scientific world. It contributes to your health and well-being in almost everything it's used in. By finding out more information on Chromatography you may be amazed to find out just how much it provides and why it's so essential to so many crossover industries.

Chromatography never stops working for you and it can mean the difference between having the better, more detailed and accurate results you need. Chromatography has become well-recognized and requested by all the industries listed above and even more. Helpful and informative guides like the one listed above can help you access any additional information you need.