Welcome to ASU

The Queen's University Analytical Services Unit


The Analytical Service Unit provides analytical testing services from the basement of the Bioscience Building, 160 Barrie Street, Kingston, ON.

We are receiving samples.

Please contact cairnsg@queensu.ca and/or whitleyp@queensu.ca to arrange sample drop-off.

All testing questions should be asked on-line at either cairnsg@queensu.ca or whitleyp@queensu.ca.


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ASU is accredited by CALA (formerly CAEAL) to the standards of ISO/IEC 17025. We are an environmental laboratory, and have been providing analytical services at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario for over 25 Years.

The unit is available to assist industry, government and the university community with analytical chemistry problems. The ASU also has experience to assist with environmental assessments and associated activities.

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The ASU has aided 50 professors in 20 different departments of the university and over 200 industrial organizations with chemical analysis problems. The unit also accommodates the special needs of clients such as analytical method development and specific research projects.

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The Analytical Services Unit has worked on a wide variety of environmental projects including the cleanup of former military bases in the Canadian Arctic. Work at these sites has involved conducting environmental assessments, development of cleanup proposals, establishing on-site procedures and solving problems unique to specific sites.

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For the last 10+ years, we have been involved with training at the Nunavut Research Institute (NRI) in Iqaluit. Field trips are sometimes incorporated into the course and often result in an exchange of cultural experiences such as traditional seal hunting demonstrations. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the course was delivered in a hybrid format.

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