TRENDS IN PURGE-AND-TRAP

Purge and trap is a widely recognized technique for the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using gas chromatography (GC). Improvements in the purge and trap method include techniques that attempt to make the preconcentration a transparent part of the overall analysis. These techniques include methods and hardware capable of handling the wide array of sample matrices encountered, minimizing matrix interferences inherent within the technique, and efficiently transferring the concentrated sample to the GC for separation and subsequent detection. Present trends toward optimization of purge and trap include the proper decision of concentration parameters, trapping adsorbents, GC inlet interfaces, and columns, each of which may be pivotal for meeting specific application requirements. Strategies for run-time reduction, consistent with the trend toward smaller bore capillary columns, have led to significant increases in productivity in the environmental analytical laboratory. © 1994, Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.