Low-Cost Quantitation of Multiple Volatile Organic Compounds in Air Using Solid-Phase Microextraction

Current standard approaches for quantitation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in outdoor air are labor-intensive and/or require additional equipment. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a simpler alternative; however, its application is often limited by complex calibration, the need for highly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSeparations Vol. 6; no. 4; p. 51
Main Authors Ibragimova, Olga P., Baimatova, Nassiba, Kenessov, Bulat
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2019
Subjects
air monitoring
Air pollution
Analytical chemistry
Automation
Calibration
Divinylbenzene
Ethylbenzene
fiber selection
Folding
gas chromatography
Gases
Hydrocarbons
Laboratories
Methods
Pollutants
Polydimethylsiloxane
Sensors
Solid phases
spme
Standard deviation
Toluene
VOCs
Volatile organic compounds
Kazakhstan
United States > US
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Summary:Current standard approaches for quantitation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in outdoor air are labor-intensive and/or require additional equipment. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a simpler alternative; however, its application is often limited by complex calibration, the need for highly pure gases and the lack of automation. Earlier, we proposed the simple, automated and accurate method for quantitation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) in air using 20 mL headspace vials and standard addition calibration. The aim of present study was to expand this method for quantitation of >20 VOCs in air. Twenty-five VOCs were chosen for the method development. Polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber provided better combination of detection limits and relative standard deviations of calibration slopes than other studied fibers. Optimal extraction time was 10 min. For quantification of all analytes except n-undecane, crimp top vials with samples should not stand on the autosampler tray for >8 h, while 22 most stable analytes can be quantified during 24 h. The developed method was successfully tested for automated quantification of VOCs in outdoor air samples collected in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the responses of 23 VOCs were below 15.6%. Toluene-to-benzene concentration ratios were below 1.0 in colder days, indicating that most BTEX originated from non-transport-related sources.
ISSN:2297-8739
2297-8739
DOI:10.3390/separations6040051