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PRECOLUMN SAMPLE ENRICHMENT DEVICE FOR ANALYSIS OF AMBIENT VOLATILE ORGANICS BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY
Citation:
Arnts, R. PRECOLUMN SAMPLE ENRICHMENT DEVICE FOR ANALYSIS OF AMBIENT VOLATILE ORGANICS BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-85/477 (NTIS PB87174967).
Description:
Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC/MS) identification of air pollutants generally requires a preconcentration step to provide sufficient sample for analysis. Cryogenic trapping is often used to enrich the sample since nitrogen and oxygen are not condensed. It does, however, concentrate enormous quantities of water and carbon dioxide - enough to plug high resolution narrow bore capillary columns needed for separation of complex environmental samples. Whole air samples were collected in stainless steel containers or Tedlar bags for analysis by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC/FID). In order to provide identification of unknown peaks and confirmation of tentatively named peaks the system described herein was designed and built to enrich samples for GC/MS analysis of volatile organics. The preconcentration system consists of a solid sorbent trap and a cryogenic trap used in sequence to collect organic vapors and focus them for analysis by GC/MS.