Evaluation of Photovac 10S50 portable photoionization gas chromatograph for analysis of toxic organic pollutants in ambient air

Technical Report · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6862322

Berkley, R E

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

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400102 -- Chemical & Spectral Procedures
500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION MONITORS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MONITORS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
SENSITIVITY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TOXIC MATERIALS