Chromatography as a technique of separating and analyzing a mixture of chemicals is fast gaining popularity in various fields. Its scope and potential are no longer limited to the field of Chemistry.
Talking particularly about the field of Medicine, the technique has an extensive use; some of which are highlighted below:
- Pharmaceutical companies deploy chromatography for preparing medicines from large amount of pure chemicals.
- If you wish to detect alcohol or some other drug in a person’s blood or urine, gas chromatography comes to your aid.
- Since chromatography separates a mixture of chemicals into its constituents, it helps to analyse the purity of the manufactured medicine. In other words, you can identify whether the components present on a medicine label are actually present in the medicine or not.
- By detecting residual burnt particles and flammable chemicals present in the body parts in case of fire or explosions, it helps forensic experts to solve numerous cases.
- Herbal research scientists specifically use high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) for extracting and isolating chemical compounds from herbal plants and medications.
Chromatography is challenging requiring hi-tech labs and sophisticated instruments but is very useful in determining the purity of the substances we consume every day.
