The presumptive detection of benzene in water in the presence of phenol with an active membrane-UV photo-ionisation differential mobility spectrometer

A rapid and non-invasive method to determine toxic levels of alcohols and γ-hydroxybutyric acid in saliva samples by gas chromatography-differential mobility spectrometry

A polydimethylsiloxane oral sampler was used to extract methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, 1,3-propandiol and γ-hydroxybutyric acid from samples of human saliva obtained using a passive drool approach. The extracted compounds were recovered by thermal desorption, isolated by gas chromatography and detected with differential mobility spectrometry, operating with a programmed dispersion field. Complex signal behaviours were also observed that were consistent with hitherto unobserved fragmentation behaviours in differential mobility spectrometry. These yielded high-mobility fragments obscured within the envelope of the water-based reactant ion peak. Further, compensation field maxima shifts were also observed which were attributable to transport gas modification phenomena. Nevertheless, the responses obtained indicated that in vivo saliva sampling with thermal desorption gas chromatography may be used to provide a semi-quantitative diagnostic screen over the toxicity threshold concentration ranges of 100 mg dm(-3) to 3 g dm(-3). A candidate method suitable for use in low resource settings for the non-invasive screening of patients intoxicated by alcohols and volatile sedatives has been demonstrated.

Internally heated membrane interfaced to a gas chromatography flame ionization detector

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) mixtures in aqueous solutions have been investigated using a simple and efficient all-in-one on-line sampling, isolation, enrichment and pre-concentration internally heated membrane connected to a gas chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID). In our previous study with the internally heated membrane, no GC column was used in the instrument. In this new study, we introduce a GC column in the instrument design and this makes it possible for mixtures to be investigated. This new experimental design enabled high resolution separation of analyte mixtures capable of being adsorbed, diffused, and desorbed from the device for detection with an FID. With the new design we present data from investigation of competitive adsorption effects on the membrane. The data showed that analyte adsorption and diffusion onto the membrane can be affected when mixtures of analytes are introduced. The application of multiple linear regressions approach to the data enabled us to correct for the problem of competitive adsorption. Analyte adsorption and diffusion was affected by the diffusion coefficients of the analytes; the higher the diffusion coefficient the better the extraction from the membrane. Increasing the sampling time from 1 to 4 min increases the response by 77%. The sampling time responses were linear up to 4 min sampling time. Above 4 min sampling time, the data deviate from linearity. The effect of adding salt to standards has no effect on analyte absorption onto the membrane. The detection limits for key VOCs studied with an internal standard calibration ranged from 0.2 to 194 ng cm(-3).

Preliminary studies of using preheated carrier gas for on-line membrane extraction of semivolatile organic compounds

In this paper, we present results for the on-line determination of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in air using membrane extraction with a sorbent interface-ion mobility spectrometry (MESI-IMS) system with a preheated carrier (stripping) gas. The mechanism of the mass transfer of SVOCs across a membrane was initially studied. In comparison with the extraction of volatile analytes, the mass transfer resistance that originated from the slow desorption from the internal membrane surface during the SVOC extraction processes should be taken into account. A preheated carrier gas system was therefore built to facilitate desorption of analytes from the internal membrane surface. With the benefit of a temperature gradient existing between the internal and external membrane surfaces, an increase in the desorption rate of a specific analyte at the internal surface and the diffusion coefficient within the membrane could be achieved while avoiding a decrease of the distribution constant on the external membrane interface. This technique improved both the extraction rate and response times of the MESI-IMS system for the analysis of SVOCs. Finally, the MESI-IMS system was shown to be capable of on-site measurement by monitoring selected polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons emitted from cigarette smoke.