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Australian Government Analytical Laboratories

section heading graphic   Overview

The Australian Government Analytical Laboratories (AGAL) is the Australian Government's principal agency for the provision of analytical services in chemistry, microbiology, and materials and building science.

AGAL plays an important strategic role in protecting Australian public health and safety, the environment and international trade. We do this by providing Australia with an internationally recognised chemical and microbiological measurement infrastructure that has the capability and capacity to respond to national needs.

section heading graphic   Competitive Advantages

As a business unit within the Analytical & Mapping Division of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science & Resources (ISR), AGAL employs 170 ongoing staff and approximately 110 contractors.

Major laboratories are located in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, with shopfronts in Brisbane and Adelaide. The AGAL Head office is located in Canberra.

Specialist areas within AGAL include -

  • drugs-in-sport testing in the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory (ASDTL)
  • provision of a national chemical measurement infrastructure through the National Analytical Reference Laboratory (NARL)
  • illicit drugs testing and research in the Australian Forensic Drug Laboratory (AFDL) and
  • appraisal and listing schemes covering materials and building science by the Scientific Services Laboratory (SSL).

section heading graphic   Technology & Services

AGAL is recognised as a market leader throughout Australia for its provision of quality environmental analytical services. AGAL is the preferred supplier to a number of internationally recognised oil and mining companies, engineering consultants and regulatory bodies.

It can provide a complete range of analytical services required by organisations to meet various statutory and voluntary environmental obligations. Its team is focused on providing a complete service package which incorporates accurate analysis, short turnaround times, competitive pricing and personal attention to individual client needs.

The ability to send work locally is of primary importance to many customers. AGAL offers complete national coverage with customer service centres located in all states except Tasmania. AGAL environmental laboratories are strategically located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.  At each of our facilities, clients benefit from personalised service provided by AGAL technical and customer service staff.

Capabilities
AGAL can perform analyses for a comprehensive range of analytes in most sample types including soil, water, air, sludge, trade waste and sediment samples. Our services include:

Industrial contaminants
AGAL's services cover the full spectrum of industrial waste and pollution analyses including -

  • Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH)
  • Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MAH)
  • Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)
  • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
  • Leachate (TCLP) to meet EPA landfill requirements
  • Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB)
  • Phenols
State of the art instrumentation is available in all AGAL laboratories and features Purge and Trap analysis of volatiles with detection by GC-MS. Other instrumentation includes Headspace-GC, GC-FID and HPLC.

Trace Metals
AGAL has a complete trace element capability with limits of detection ranging from parts per million (ppm) to sub parts per billion (ppb). Instruments include multiple ICP-AES, ICP-MS, Cold Vapour AAS and an ICP-Hydride Generation system. A feature of this section is the High Resolution ICP-MS, which is ideal for accurate and interference free analysis of saline waters.

Agricultural contaminants
Analyses include complete screens for -

  • Organochlorine and Organophosphate pesticides (OC/OP)
  • Carbamates and Dithiocarbamates
  • Pyrethroids
  • Phenoxy Acid herbicides
  • Triazines
  • Instruments include GC-MS, GC-ECD, GC-FPD, GC-NP and HPLC.

Waters
AGAL can test groundwater, effluent, catchment, potable and waste waters for the following analytes -

  • Comprehensive Nutrient Analysis (Nitrogen and Phosphorus compounds, Chlorophylls etc.)
  • Physical tests (eg. colour, conductivity, turbidity, etc.)
  • Chemical tests (eg. Anions, Cations, BOD, COD, TOC, Cyanides, etc.)
  • Instrumentation includes Ion chromatography, Segmented Flow Autoanalysers and UV/Vis Spectrophotometers

Microbiology
AGAL offers a comprehensive range of microbiological and pathogenic tests including -

  • Legionella
  • Total Plate Count (TPC)
  • E coli
  • Total Coliforms
  • Faecal Coliforms

Dioxin Analysis
Recognising a future requirement for capability within Australia to analyse environmental and food samples for the presence of the known carcinogen dioxins, AGAL developed and implemented a plan to establish such a capability in its Sydney facility. The laboratory, tentatively named the Australian Ultra Trace Laboratory (AUTL), has third party technical accreditation pending through the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA). AGAL has been assisted in these endeavours by on-site input by an expert from Environment Canada.

AGAL has provided important technical input to other government dioxin initiatives including those conducted under the auspices of Environment Australia, Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry Australia, the Australia New Zealand Food Authority, the Department of Health & Aged Care and several private sector organisations. Development of the dioxin testing capability has proceeded with encouragement from these groups.

section heading graphic   Corporate Alliances/Partnerships

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section heading graphic   Enquiries
Name N/A   Australian Government Analytical Laboratories Logo
Job Title N/A
Address
PO Box 1844
City/Suburb
Canberra
ACT 2601 Australia
Email
info@agal.gov.au
Phone +61 2 6213 6075
Fax +61 2 6213 6815
Website www.agal.gov.au

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