Welcome

About Us


The Trace Element Analysis Core (TEA Core)
laboratory specializes in low-level trace metal analysis and speciation in environmental and biological samples. We use inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for metals analysis and several ‘hyphenated’ techniques that couple instruments together for speciation analyses of water, soil and biological tissue samples.

The TEA Core specializes in:

  • Low level element analysis in biological and environmental samples such as urine, toenails, blood, serum or plasma, animal or human tissues, water and food, soils,
  • Arsenic speciation in soils, food, waters and urine.
  • Laser ablation trace element analysis of teeth and hair.
  • For laser ablation imaging of biological tissues, please visit the BNEIR site. BNEIR is a user facility within TEACore that is open to all biomedical researchers whose work addresses the mandates of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

The TEA Core is supported by the Dartmouth Cancer Center through the NCI Cancer Support Grant and provides analytical support and method development for all the researchers in these programs. The Core also supports the Geisel Medical School Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program in addition to all other Dartmouth researchers requiring elemental analysis.


Acknowledgements

Scientists and collaborators who make use of the TEA Core Facility should please acknowledge our help in a format similar to the one below for your publications and also for your grant applications:

“…was carried out at the Dartmouth Trace Element Core Facility, which is supported by Dartmouth Cancer Center with NCI Cancer Center Support Grant 5P30 CA023108.”


Authorship

Core facilities must charge for services rendered according to accounting practices set up at each institution. Charging for services does not preclude authorship on manuscripts provided the Core laboratory individual has contributed to the research in a substantial way. If authorship is anticipated, it is preferably established at the beginning of the project so that both the customer and the Core researcher are cognizant of each others criteria.

Guidelines for Authorship on Manuscripts:

Important reasons for acknowledging contributions from core facilities in publications, by co-authorship, or by formal mention in the acknowledgments section, include:

  • Core facility personnel are scientists. When they make a substantial intellectual and/or experimental contribution to a publication they deserve to be acknowledged just as any other co-author.
  • The existence of core facilities depends in part on proper acknowledgment in publications and in grant writing. These are important metrics of the value of most core facilities. Proper acknowledgment of core facilities enables them to obtain financial and other support so that they may continue to provide their essential services in the best ways possible. It also helps core personnel to advance in their careers, adding to the overall health of the core facility.

Activities for which authorship are recommended:

  • Authors should make substantive contributions to the project:
    • Conception, design of project, critical input, or original ideas
    • Acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, beyond routine practices
    • Draft the article or revise it critically for intellectual content
    • Write a portion of the paper (not just materials and methods section)
    • Intellectual contribution
    • Final authority for the approval of article
  • Each author should have participated enough to accept responsibility for the content of the manuscript

Activities that do not constitute authorship:

  • Collection of data (technical skill but not involved in interpretation of data)
  • General supervision of research group, but no intellectual input into the project

All contributors that do not meet the criteria of authorship should be recognized in the acknowledgements section, for example:

  • Paid technical help
  • Writing assistance
  • Financial and material support
  • Scientific advice