Determining Volatile Organic Compounds from Difficult Soil Matrices Utilizing Both Headspace and Purge and Trap Techniques

Purge and Trap concentration (P&T) along with Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis is the traditionally used method for the analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). This application note investigates P&T concentration of VOCs in soils utilizing both the standard soil and the automated methanol extraction technique of Teledyne Tekmar’s Atomx, a combination P&T concentrator and multimatrix autosampler system.

Furthermore, we will demonstrate an alternative method for the analysis of VOCs in soils utilizing both the Static and Dynamic modes of Teledyne Tekmar’s HT3™ Automated Headspace Analyzer. The analysis of soils presents several challenges as the composition of the soil matrix can vary. Thus, this application note will also inquire into different soil matrices and how to best determine the VOCs present in them.

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