Gareth M. Roberts

This study describes the monitoring of potentially harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from respiratory medical devices, by pumped sampling and thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TD–GC–MS) analysis in accordance with ISO 18562 part 3. Emissions from two sets of face-mask supply tubing and three nasal cannulas were compared, and all were found to emit VOCs at levels that may give cause for concern.

This article describes the use of a headspace thermal desorption–gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (headspace TD–GC–TOF-MS) method to analyze complex aroma profiles from hops, and highlights how it can provide a rapid yet robust approach when comparing similar samples. The article also examines the potential of “soft” electron ionization at 12 eV for distinguishing between structurally similar monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids to provide better characterization of the often subtle differences in headspace profiles between different hop varieties.

Hyphenated approaches to analysis have received much attention over the last three decades to the extent that techniques such as GC?MS, GC?FTIR and LC?MS have ? in the relevant fields ? become indispensable parts of the analyst?s arsenal. This concept has been extended to include multi-hyphenated techniques, where the chromatography is preceded by analyte extraction from a sample matrix. In the field of GC?MS, examples include thermal, sorptive or headspace extraction, with subsequent preconcentration, for instance, by thermal desorption (TD).

Many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in a variety of consumer products are potentially harmful to human health and the environment. Within industry, to regulate product safety and quality, methods for measuring specific VOCs in a product, typically by thermal desorption gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TD-GC–MS), are implemented. Such analysis provides a comprehensive VOC profile. However, the nature of some products, such as food, can be chemically complex. Within this complexity, trace-level or coeluting compounds can be difficult or time-consuming to identify. As a potential solution, new software tools are being developed to automate interpretation of the data.

This article discusses the analysis of a wide range of CWAs at current exposure limits and describes a number of recent beneficial developments in TD and associated analytical technologies for the identification and quantification of CWAs at these levels.