In 1967, Finnigan formed Finnigan Instrument Corporation with
venture capital from Roger Sant and T. Z. Chu. He was joined by Michael Story from EAI, and William Fies from SRI. In early 1968, Finnigan Instrument Corporation delivered its first prototype quadrupole GC/MS instruments. One was sent to
Nobel Prize winner
Joshua Lederberg at
Stanford University. The other was sent to
Purdue University. A major strength of the instrument was precise quantitation. It could be used to detect trace contaminants in environmental samples, to identify drugs in a case of
overdose, and to measure
drug metabolites. The EPA surveyed possible monitoring instruments for use in monitoring organic pollutants. Speed, cost, and performance were all important concerns. The target machine was projected as having the ability to scan for pesticides with a resolving power of 1,000 to 10,000, across a broad range of 10 nanograms to one microgram. A computer-controlled system was desirable. An international array of instruments were reviewed, of which only two used quadrupole technology. An expert panel recommended Finnigan's quadrupole GC/MS to the EPA for further evaluation, and twenty Finnigan Model 1015/System 150 instruments were ordered soon after by the EPA. By 1979, the Finnigan GC/MS was the preferred instrument at the EPA for the analysis of environmental pollutants in water and wastewater. The EPA also based its instruction manuals and standards for
environmental testing on the Finnigan GC/MS, publishing the results in the
Federal Register in 1979. By 1984, all public water was to be tested by using a GC/MS apparatus. In the 1980s, an estimated 60-70% of Finnigan's GC/MS sales went to the environmental market. Robert Finnigan continued to consult for the company for several years after the acquisition. He has also consulted with other entrepreneurial companies. ==Other activities==