Checking Phine’s New Car by SIFT-MS

Martin Perkins

12th August 2015

Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, BTXs, Formaldehyde, Mark Perkins, Phine Banks, Ray Perkins, SIFT-MS, Styrene, Syft Voice200Ultra, Tedlar Bag, Tetradecane, VOC,


Phine Banks, Anatune’s Account Manager for the West of England, has just taken delivery of a new VW Golf.

That distinctive new car smell is always something to be savoured, but there are regulations that govern the total VOC concentrations permitted in the cabin.

Just for fun, we decided to check-out Phine’s pride and joy using our SIFT-MS.

Mark Perkins took an interior air sample with a Tedlar bag and ran the sample on our Voice200Ultra.

We set up the instrument to display a figure for total organic concentration. We got a reading of 2,970 µg/m3. Our understanding of the German TÜV regulations is that the total VOC concentration has to be less than 3,000 µg/m3. Close, but on the right side of the line.

The major components we saw were acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and acrolein, with traces of the BTXs, styrene and tetradecane.

Here is the result:

chart

OK, so this is just a bit of fun. It isn’t a validated measurement, but consider this…

From the point when we decided to do this, to obtaining the final results, took about 15 minutes. This included walking outside and collecting a sample from inside the car.

We could get quantitative results instantly because SIFT-MS doesn’t depend upon comparison with standards; it calculates concentrations directly.

SIFT-MS continues to impress me. What do you think?

If you want to know more about SIFT-MS, please contact us on +41 (0)1223 279210, or emailenquiries@anatune.co.uk.