Leslie P. Silva

Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) impact human health, quality of life, and the environment. Since industry contributes significant VOC pollution, fenceline monitoring is essential to ensuring compliance with applicable regulations. Conventional use of passive or grab samples analyzed at the laboratory fails to capture dynamic changes, and particularly fails to detect pollution incidents rapidly. In contrast, SIFT-MS instruments mounted in mobile laboratories provide on-site, real‑time analysis that enables rapid identification of “hot” zones via both on-the-move analysis and monitoring at fixed locations. Combined with drone sampling, the specific pollution source can be located.

The method of standard additions (MoSA) enables quantification of volatile impurities in condensed-phase samples, such as emulsions, for which matrix-matched calibration standards are required. The technique is, however, expensive because it requires multiple analyses of each sample.

Pharmaceutical excipients, such as polyethylene glycol-based polymers, must be tested for the presence of ethylene oxide (EtO) and 1,4-dioxane as part of a safety assessment, according to USP Chapter <228>.

Selected ion flow tube mas spectrometry (SIFT–MS) offers real-time measurements directly from air without chromatography or sample preparation, providing an attractive alternative for these hard-to-measure volatile organic compounds.