Non-selective Sampling of Volatile Organics – a New Approach

The GERSTEL DHS Dynamic Headspace Sampler

If you are busy with the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile compounds (especially if you are working with foods, beverages or consumer products), you may well need to use a number of different sampling techniques (Static Headspace, Solid Phase Micro Extraction, Thermal Desorption or Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction for example). For this reason the GERSTEL Multi-Purpose Sampler supports all of these different techniques.

When you analyse for volatiles in your samples, you will get a very different pattern of peaks depending upon the sampling technique that you use, because the recovery of every compound will be determined by their different partition co-efficients in both the matrix and in any extracting media.

If you want to see the pattern of all of the volatile organics in your sample, none of the above techniques will let you do this.

Now GERSTEL application chemists in Japan and Germany have developed a new approach to dynamic headspace sampling (DHS Multi-Desorption), that enables components of all volatilities and all polarities to be extracted from liquid phase samples. What is more, this can be done without transferring excessive amounts of water into the GC-MS system.

This important new technique is simply a clever way of using a standard GERSTEL DHS and requires no additional hardware to make it work.

If you want to know more about this new way of sampling volatile and semi-volatile organics, I can supply you with a copy of a presentation produced by Carlos Gil of GERSTEL on the topic.

To receive a copy, please email: enquiries@anatune.co.uk or call us on +44 (0) 1223 279210.