LCGC Asia Pacific-06-01-2018

Is that peak “pure”? How do I know if there might be something hiding under there?

The chemical analysis of organic compounds in environmental samples is often targeted on predetermined analytes. A major shortcoming of this approach is that it invariably excludes a vast number of compounds of unknown relevance. Nontargeted chemical fingerprinting analysis addresses this problem by including all compounds that generate a relevant signal from a specific analytical platform and so more information about the samples can be obtained. A DHS−TD−GC−MS method for the fingerprinting analysis of mobile VOCs in soil is described and tested in this article. The analysis parameters, sorbent tube, purge volume, trapping temperature, drying of sorbent tube, and oven temperature were optimized through qualitative and semiquantitative analysis. The DHS−TD–GC−MS fingerprints of soil samples from three sites with spruce, oak, or beech were investigated by pixel-based analysis, a nontargeted data analysis method.

This yearly report on new products introduced at Pittcon (or in the preceding year) covers sample preparation instrumentation, supplies, and accessories.

An excerpt from LCGC’s e-learning tutorial on troubleshooting autosampler contamination at CHROMacademy.com

Click the title above to open the LCGC Asia Pacific June 2018 regular issue in an interactive PDF format.