Department of Pharmacy University of Oslo 031 6 Oslo Norway During the Atomic Spectroscopy Group meeting Bristol UK March 31 1995 Dr Steve Hill (S.H.) a member of the JAAS Editorial Board and Brenda HoIliday (B.H.) Senior Assistant Editor interviewed Dr Ragnar Bye (R.B.) about his own work and science in Scandinavia. B.H. It’s nice to start the interview with a little background information about how you came to be doing what you’re doing now and where. R.B. I have been dealing with chemistry since I was 18 when I was a laboratory assistant and after that I was educated in chemical engineering in 1968. I worked as a chemical engineer for a few years then I started to study science at the University of Oslo. I got my Masters degree in analytical chemistry in 1978 and worked there as an assistant teacher until 1987 when I received a PhD from the same university in analytical chemistry.My thesis was on atomic absorption methods for selenium combined with preconcentration and separation techniques particularly using hydride generation but also electrochemical methods. For three years 1988-90 I was a Senior Lecturer in chemistry at the University of Agriculture then in 1990 I got a position at the University of Oslo again. S.H. How did you end up in the Department of Pharmacy? R.B. Because there was a vacant position which appeared to be more attractive than the one I held. S.H. You have found a home there? R.B. Yes. I work closely with colleagues in the Department of Chemistry where I was educated and worked in the 1980s. The two departments are only a few metres from each other so we are very much a working group. S.H.How many departments that specialize in analytical chemistry are there in Norway and indeed in Scandinavia? R.B. In Norway only the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oslo offers specialized education in analytical chemistry at an academic level. In Sweden there are probably three The University of Umeii where Wolfgang Frech and Douglas Baxter work; the University of Technology in Stockholm where they have been working particularly with flow techniques combined with AS methods as have also Prof. Hansen’s group at the Danish University of Technology; and the University of Goteborg where work is done particularly on ICP-MS. S.H. How close is the community? Do you have regular meetings where people from all three countries come together? R.B.We have only one regular meeting every second year ‘NASTEC‘ (Nordic Atomic Spectroscopy and Trace Element Conference). S.H. Are there many national meetings? You are heavily associated with the regular meetings in Roros. How did that come about? R.B. Every one and a half years we arrange a national meeting in atomic spectroscopy at a small mountain village named Roros and it is quite well known to a lot of British atomic spectroscopists. It started in 1969 I think. At that time Mr. Per Paus was the prime mover. He was a very active man in atomic spectroscopy not only in Norway but also in Europe. Most of the older British atomic spectroscopists will remember him very well. His health was however not very good and it became even worse so in the 1980s I and a couple of colleagues were asked to take over the meeting.S.H. I know many of us who have been there have enjoyed the meeting. The town is also very beautiful. What sort of people do you generally tend to get at these sorts of meetings. Do you get a cross section from technician grades up to well established scientists? R.B. You are perfectly right. The majority of the attendants are technicians and engineers working daily in the laboratory but there is also always quite a large number of academic people there laboratory and institute managers etc. The invited speakers usually come from universities in order to bring the latest ideas and inventions especially those that can help the chemist to solve some of their daily problems.S.H. Do the other Scandinavian countries hold similar meetings? R.B. In the other Scandinavian countries no similar meetings are arranged for some strange reason which could also explain why the Roros meeting is attended by people from other Scandinavian countries (especially Sweden). S.H. While we’re talking about conferences you are a regular visitor to the BNASS meetings. R.B. I’ve attended BNASS since 1986 (it was here in Bristol) and every meeting since. I like the BNASS meeting because of its suitable size combined with a high scientific standard and a very friendly atmosphere. From time to time I bring my wife with me and we combine BNASS with a car holiday in Britain. We do hope to continue to do that. S.H. Of course several years ago you were an invited lecturer at the BNASS meeting.Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry September 1995 Vol. 10 51 NR.B. It was at Loughborough in 1990. The topic of the lecture was hydride generation from alkaline solutions; an approach which was quite new at that time. S.H. How did you get involved with the ASU board? R.B. That was through John Ottaway. The journal (JAAS) had just been established and Per Paus had been a member of the board since the very beginning. However the last time John visited the Rijros meeting (he had been there once before) he realised that Mr. Paus’ health was failing so he asked me if I was willing to take over. S.H. How well is JAAS received in Norway ? R.B. I don’t know how many subscribers there are but I know that everyone who submits papers to JAAS also has the journal themselves in Scandinavia.Nowadays it would be quite impossible to do research work in analytical atomic spectroscopy on an international acceptable level without reading JAAS regularly. S.H. Thinking about your own work I Jirst became aware of it through your papers on hydride generation. What particularly attracted you to that area? Did it come from your background in chemical engineering or from your move into analytical chemistry? R.B. It was an accident because I had not worked with that technique during my Master’s degree but on the combination of GC and AAS for speciation of lead and mercury compounds. Professor Lund had together with one of his graduate students published a method for the determination of selenium in saline water using an electrochemical preconcentration - AAS method and a reader wrote to Professor Lund saying that he wasn’t able to repeat the experiment.Professor Lund asked me to look into it (that was in 1979 just after having finished my Master’s degree). I did and in that connection I proposed to buy a simple batch hydride generator in order to be able to compare the results. S.H. And since the 1980s? R.B. During these years I used that equipment and after a few years also a continuous flow system for my PhD work. I was particularly interested in why certain metals interfere with the hydride generation and how to remove/ minimize such interferences. During the last years we have tried to solve such interference problems by generating the hydrides from alkaline solutions.S.H. I know that you have an interest in hydride formation in graphite tubes. Has that progressed to the stage when you will soon publish? R.B. So far it has not. We have looked into possibilities of elwtroplating and of cathodic sputtering of certain metals inside the graphite tube in order to preconcentrate the hydrides. However many groups are working with those problems and possibilities just now. S.H. How about the speciation side? You said that your own Ph13 studies looked at hyphenated techniques. Are you still working on speciation? R.B. During the last years only on redox speciation of some of i;he hydride elements although I started out in the 1970s with speciation studies of mercury and lead. The big problem with real speciation analysis (organic-metal compounds) is that some sort of chemical treatment is always necessary involving large risks of disturbing the chemical environment of the sample in such a way that chemical alteration of the species in question must be suspected.S.H. Many people have looked at the detector end but veryj’ew people have addressed the problem of sampling. What sort of samples most interest you? I know that you have examined environmental matrices do you look at clinical samples as well? R.B. Yes but only for routine work; not worth publishing. S.H. Do you have any idea of what you would like to do in thej‘uture? R.B. I’m sure I will continue with atomic spectrometry. Besides I should like to do more on decomposition methods of both inorganic and biological materials.As time has gone by the instruments have become more anti more sophisticated whereas not much has happened as to the decomposition methods; they are almost identical with those recommended in the 1960s. The advent of microwave ovens has mostly involved advantages in the time needed for decomposition; as to the chemistry not much has changed. S.H. There are many groups moving into areas like ICP-MS which obviously needs a lot of capital expenditure to get started? R.B. Indeed it does. But fortunately the Department of Chemistry got a grant from the National Council of Research to buy such an instrument. However I am not particularly involved in that project. There are six or seven such instruments in Norway installed at institutions that use them as tools not for research purposes.S.H. How about collaboration with other groups outside Norway? R.B. There are no restrictions. We can establish cooperation with everyone without interference. B.H. Do you think there is any value in moving to another laboratory to work for a period of time? R.B. Indeed yes. On the condition that the period is not too short. One or two weeks will not do. A couple of months is at least needed. S.H. One thing I must ask you about is your passion for old motor cars. On several occasions I know you have brought your car over to the UK. How many cars do you have? R.B. I have three older cars. The one you have seen is not very old - a 30 year- old Volvo. The two other ones are Chevrolets from 1927 and 1939. Finally there is a 1939 motor cycle with side car which my wife and I have just used for a one week holiday in Denmark.S.H. Do you drive them regularly? R.B. Yes! B.H. I imagined you just polishing them that’s all. R.B. Definitely not although I know very well that some people having such vehicles do indeed spend much of their time polishing. S.H. Does your wife share your interest for old vehicles? R.B. Not exactly. She says we have too many old vehicles and too few modern. Our daily car is 15 years old. S.H. You’re giving a talk this afternoon at the Atomic Spectroscopy Group Meeting - on what? R.B. That will be on the present status of atomic spectrometry in the Scandinavian countries and also about its past history. The proposal was that I should say something about my own activity and other AS activities in Norway. But this would probably have taken too short a time so I proposed to expand it include all the Scandinavian countries! B.H. Have you enjoyed the two days that you have been here? R.B. Yes I always enjoy being at meetings in the UK meeting British colleagues. S.H. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. I look forward to seeing you at the next BNASS meeting in Norwich. R.B. Most certainly I’ll be there! 52 N Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry September 1995 Vol. 10