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U.S. Department of Energy
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Determination of volatile organic compounds in food using a novel blender-purge and trap device

Conference ·
OSTI ID:191765
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN (United States)
  2. USDA, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

An off-line blender-purge and trap GC/MS method for the determination of benzene and other volatile organic compounds in food has been developed and validated. The overall detection capabilities and reproducibility of this blender-purge and trap device were shown to be as good as or better than those obtained using a conventional purge and trap method. The new blender-purge and trap method has several distinct advantages over conventional purge and trap systems including minimal loss of analyte from sample handling or transfers and increased detection sensitivity since larger samples sizes can be analyzed. Over 20 foods have been analyzed using this method. Benzene levels from 0 to < 3 ppb have been determined using selected ion monitoring detection. Fullscan analysis has also shown the presence of other volatile contaminants, such as toluene, in a number of the food samples. Additionally, the amount of benzene produced as a function of gamma irradiation dose has been established for raw and cooked chicken. The accuracy of the new method has also been established by the analysis of several QA/QC samples.

OSTI ID:
191765
Report Number(s):
CONF-941098--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English