Determination of part-per-trillion levels of atmospheric sulfur dioxide by isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Journal Article · Wed Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 1987 · Anal. Chem.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ac00135a026· OSTI ID:6542965

Driedger, III, A R; Thornton, D C; Lalevic, M; Bandy, A R

An isotope dilution gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method is described for determining atmospheric SO/sub 2/. A cryogenic trapping method was used to enrich the sample to levels detectable by GC/MS. A lower limit of detection of 0.04 pmol was achieved in humid urban air. A 1.7-L sample was required to achieve a lower limit of detection of 1 pptrv (part per trillion by volume). This sample could be acquired in less than 3 min. The use of an isotopically labeled variant of SO/sub 2/ as an internal standard assured very high precision and insensitivity to analyte loss.

• Research Organization: Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA
• OSTI ID: 6542965
• Journal Information: Anal. Chem.; (United States), Journal Name: Anal. Chem.; (United States) Vol. 59:8; ISSN ANCHA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400101* -- Activation
Nuclear Reaction
Radiometric & Radiochemical Procedures
400102 -- Chemical & Spectral Procedures
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMISTRY
CHROMATOGRAPHY
CRYOGENICS
DATA
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUIDS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GASES
INFORMATION
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPE DILUTION
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTROSCOPY
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR DIOXIDE
SULFUR OXIDES
TRACE AMOUNTS
TRACER TECHNIQUES