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U.S. Department of Energy
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Evaluation of Photovac 10S50 portable photoionization gas chromatograph for analysis of toxic organic pollutants in ambient air

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6862322

The objective of the study was to evaluate the Photovac 10S50 portable photoionization gas chromatograph as a monitor for fourteen selected toxic organic vapors in ambient air. These included benzene, toluene, bromo- and chloro-benzene, o-xylene, and nine halo-methanes, ethanes, and ethylenes. Such analyses have usually been done by gas chromatography using a mass spectrometer as detector (GC/MS). The procedure is inefficient in collection and delivery of analytes to the GC/MS system and limits GC/MS analysis of organic vapors in air to being a semiquantitative method which may produce misleading results. A portable chromatograph with a detector sensitive enough to detect pollutants without preconcentration could avoid these shortcomings and supplement or complement data obtained by preconcentration/GC/MS.

Research Organization:
Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, NV (USA). Environmental Monitoring Systems Lab.
OSTI ID:
6862322
Report Number(s):
PB-87-132858/XAB; EPA-600/4-86/041
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English