analysis of semivolatile organic compounds
TRANSCRIPT
IntroductionSemivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are molecules with intermediate volatility,
making them abundant in both the vapor and condensed phase at ambient
temperatures and pressures1. Certain compounds within the class of SVOCs are
known to be environmental pollutants.
Many government regulatory agencies have established methods and set
performance criteria for the measurement SVOCs in a variety of environmental
and industrial matrices. For example, United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA) method 8270D contains a list of 243 compounds that are suitable
for analysis by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS).
Method 8270D contains detailed performance specifi cations necessary for the
quantitative analysis of SVOCs.
This Application Note demonstrates that the Agilent Intuvo 9000 GC can easily
achieve the rigorous calibration specifi cations established in USEPA 8270D for the
quantitative analysis of SVOCs in environmental matrices.
ANALYSIS OF SEMIVOLATILEORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Technology Advantage: Agilent Intuvo 9000 GC with
Agilent 5977 MSD
For more information, visit:
www.agilent.com/chem/intuvo
ExperimentalInstrumentation
• Agilent Intuvo 9000 GC
• Agilent 5977 MSD with inert ion source with 6 mm and drawout plate
• Agilent DB-5ms UI, 30 m × 0.25 mm, 0.5 µm column
Sample preparation
A mixture of 77 target compounds comprised of acids, bases, neutrals, and six
internal standards were selected.
Standards were prepared in dichloromethane ranging in concentration from 0.1 to
100 µg/mL, and internal standards at a concentration of 40 µg/mL.
Results and DiscussionMethod 8270D allows the use of several different calibration techniques. The
simplest is the calculation of average response factors (RF). The method specifi es
that the relative standard deviation (RSD) in RF must fall within 20 % for a minimum
of fi ve calibration levels.
Figure 1 shows the percent RSDs in RF for 71 out of 77 of the target analytes. For
compounds shown in blue, the concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 100 μg/mL with
the exception of benzoic acid, starting at 4 μg/mL.
Maximum limit
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
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Resp
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acto
r R
SD
(%
)
Figure 1. RF percent RSDs below the 8270D 20 % RSD limit for calibration.
Certain compounds such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons tend to saturate the detector
at higher concentrations. In this case, it is common practice to adjust the linear range
to avoid saturation. For the compounds in Figure 1 shown in red, the concentrations
ranged from 0.1 to 50 μg/mL with the exception of benz[a]anthracene, starting at
a concentration of 0.8 μg/mL. The average percent RSD for all the compounds in
Figure 1 was 4.81%.
For the small number of SVOCs that are reactive or labile, calibration using curve
fi tting is preferred. In this case, 8270D specifi es that the correlation coeffi cient must
be greater than 0.99. Figure 2 shows the correlation coeffi cients using weighted
linear regression for the remaining six compounds.
Figure 2. Correlation coeffi cients.
Minimum
0.983
0.985
0.988
0.990
0.992
0.994
0.996
0.998
1.000
1.002
Phenol, 2,4-dinitro-
Phenol, 4-nitro-
Phenol, 2-methyl,
4,6-dinitro-
Phenol, 2,4,6-tribromo-
Phenol, pentachloro-
Benzidine
Co
rrela
tio
n c
oeffi
cein
t
ConclusionFor all of the target analytes comprising a representative mixture of acid, base
and neutral SVOCs, calibration requirements as specifi ed by method 8270D were
easily achieved using the Agilent Intuvo 9000 GC and an Agilent 5977 Series Mass
Selective Detector.
For more detailed information and methodology, refer to Application Note
5991-7256EN2.
www.agilent.com/chem/intuvoInformation, descriptions and specifi cations in this
publication are subject to change without notice.
© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2016Published in USA, August 1, 2016
5991-7180EN
References1. Weschler, C. J.; Nazaroff, W. W., Semivolatile Organic Compounds in Indoor
Environments, Atmos. Environ. 2008, 42, 9018-9040.
2. The analysis of semivolatile organic compounds using the Agilent 9000 Intuvo
Gas Chromatograph, Agilent Technologies Application Note, publication number
5991-7256EN.