Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry – Environmental Analysis

Session 1530

Room 308C

1:30 pm–4:25 p.m.

Eight presentations comprise this Wednesday afternoon session on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry – environmental analysis.

Jonathan James Grandy of the University of Waterloo will kick off the session with a talk called “Validation of a Noel Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balanced, Polydimethylsiloxane (HLB-PDMS) Thin Film Solid Phase Microextraction (TF-SPME) Device for the Balanced Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds.” The talk presents a highly sensitive HLB-PDMS thin film microextraction device for the balanced determination of VOC compounds of varying polarity.

Following Grandy’s talk, Beate Gruber of Penn State University will present “GCxGC-TOFMS for Non-Targeted Analysis of Organic Contaminants in Young of the Year Smallmouth Bass from the Susquehanna River Basin.” The presented study is aimed at developing a more inclusive, discovery-based, analytical approach that can achieve a reasonable sample throughput.

Lee Marotta from PerkinElmer will be the next presenter, speaking on “Fast and Sensitive Analysis of Semi-Volatile Components by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS).” This presentation demonstrates how enhanced injector and GC/MS technologies can reduce laboratory costs and enhance laboratory throughput by enabling the collection of smaller sample volumes and still be able to meet and/or exceed EPA criteria.

Next, Victoria Louise Noad from Entech Instruments will present “A New Cryogen Free TO15 Canister Preconcentrator with Substantially Reduced System Carryover When Exposed to High Concentration Samples.” The discussion will focus on new canister preconcentrator and autosampler design that increases method accuracy while improving immunity to system contamination, all without the use of liquid nitrogen or electronic cooling previously required to perform TO15 analysis. 

After a short recess, Scott Pugh from LECO Corporation will speak on “Combining GCxGC with High Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Accurate Identification of Analytes in a Complex Environmental Sample.” An ultra-high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer with enhanced sensitivity was used to analyze a variety of environmental samples using various analytical techniques for accurate identification of the analytes in the samples. Examples will be shown of how to use HRMS combined with GCxGC to have better confidence in finding and identifying analytes in very complex samples.

Conner Stultz of Penn State University will follow Pugh, presenting “Kovats and Lee Retention Indices for Characterization of PCBs and Dioxins.” A retention system based off Kovats and Lee retention indices is proposed for PCBs and dioxins as a means to identify coelutions and congeners on a variety of columns. 

Next, Todd Richards from LECO Corporation will present “Comprehensive, Non-Target Characterization of Environmental Exposome Samples Using GCxGC and High Resolution Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry.” This presentation describes the systematic logic used for identification of the unknowns, its results, and the lessons learned from the process as it applied to the first round of ten, blinded ENTACT samples for a single platform.

Benedikt Alexander Weggler from Penn State University will give the final presentation, “GCxGC-MS/MS, Improvement of Detection for Analytes in Environmental Forensics.” This presentation will focus on the applicability of GCxGC-MS/MS to environmental forensic questions. It will show recent instrumental modifications to a commercial system which have allowed for continued increases in sensitivity.