During the last decade, pocket-sized analytical equipment based on the

lab-on-a-chip

approach has become available. These chips, in combination with portable electronic equipment, are applicable in, for example,

point-of-care

ion analysis of body fluids, forensics, identification of explosives, tracking of pollution in environmental or waste waters, monitoring nutrients in agricultural or horticultural water, controlling quality in food production, or process control in chemical industry. This paper discusses several demonstrator systems with applications in these fields.
Keywords Lab-on-a-chip - Ion analysis - Hydrodynamic chromatography - Micromachining