Trace Analysis of Hydrocarbons in Air Using Standard Gas Chromatographic and Personal Sampling Equipment

Unmodified standard gas chromatographs are reported to be useful for the determination of a large number of ambient hydrocarbons. Packing of standard injector glass liners with an adsorbent permits thermal desorption in the injector on to the chromatographic column. Coupling to a personal sampling pump permits exposure-related sampling. The potential of the technique is illustrated by applications with the Tenax GC adsorbent. Precautions required to avoid artifacts when working in the subnanogram range are described.