Comprehensive and Robust Analysis of Environmental Semivolatile Organic Compounds Using GC-MS/MS

New Organic Monitoring Techniques (Session 2)
Oral Presentation

Presented by R. Ciotti
Prepared by D. Walker, E. Fausett
Agilent Technologies, 2850 Centerville Road, Wilmington, DE, 19808, United States


Contact Information: [email protected]; 302-636-8311

ABSTRACT

Typical environmental laboratories utilize multiple gas chromatographs (GCs) for semi-organic workflows: a GC outfitted with an electron capture detector for the analysis of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and/or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and a GC equipped with a mass spectrometer (GCMS) for the analysis of semivolatiles organic compounds (SVOCs). Furthermore, multiple methods with differing concentration ranges, injection volumes, and capillary columns must all be maintained and employed to obtain results for only a single sample.

A separation method utilizing a GC with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS/MS) has been developed for comprehensive environmental analysis, including SVOCs, OCPs, and PCBs as Aroclors under conditions provided by EPA Method 8270E. The highly sensitive method, operating in multiple reaction (MRM) mode, provides rapid, simultaneous results for more than 250 different analytes, including multicomponent analytes such as chlordane, on a single capillary column. The use of Agilent’s Retention Time Locking (RTL) feature to prevent retention time shifts after capillary column maintenance will be described. Finally, MS performance evaluation using Agilent’s manufacturer’s MS Tuning Criteria will also be discussed.