The introduction of organic contaminants to the environment from anthropogenic activities such as oil and natural gas production, vehicle emissions, and the use and disposal of volatile chemical products is an issue of growing concern. These compounds can contribute to the formation and growth of atmospheric aerosols, participate in photochemistry that cause ozone formation, and can be environmentally persistent and accumulate in soils and natural waters where their degradation products form through unknown mechanisms. To understand the consequence of these emissions in terms of human exposure, climate forcing, and environmental burden – analytical methods are needed to identify and quantify the contaminants in a range of environments with high sensitivity, specificity and sufficient time resolution.  We have developed an online gas chromatograph (GC) equipped with thermal desorption (TD) preconcentration and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HR-ToF-MS) for the measurement of VOCs and OVOCs in a rugged, field-deployable package. The TD-GC has been coupled to both an electron-ionization (EI) HR-ToF-MS and Vocus proton-transfer-reaction (PTR) HR-ToF-MS to take advantage of the high-resolution spectra for both the compound’s fragmentation pattern (EI-ToF-MS) and its intact protonated molecular ion (Vocus PTR-ToF-MS).  Here, we will present one month of continuous field measurements of biomass burning tracers in the western U.S., results from a recent indoor air campaign, and examples from laboratory experiments to demonstrate that through the use of chromatographic separation and high resolution analysis this system has a novel ability to detect and quantify compounds that are of environmental concern. This includes VOCs and OVOCs described by the U.S. EPA as ozone precursors (PAMS) and air toxics (TO-15), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and environmental transformation products like dimethyl silanediol (DMSD). The latter of which is thought to be a soil degradation product of polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS) which are introduced to the environment in applications such as personal care products, food additives, and industrial cleaning.

Online gas chromatograph with thermal desorption preconcentrator and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometric detection for measurement of volatile organic compounds

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.