Development and application of a thermal desorption method for the analysis of polar volatile organic compounds in workplace air

The application of a newly developed thermal desorption method for the analysis of workplace air to the analysis of polar compounds is reported. The method was validated for both pumped and diffusive sampling of test gases containing polar volatile organic compounds (esters, alcohols, ketones or aldehydes) on adsorption tubes and subsequent analysis of these tubes. Carbosieve SIII, Carboxen 569, Carbopack B and Tenax TA were used as solid adsorbents. Analysis was performed by thermal desorption of the analytes from the adsorbent tubes followed by gas chromatography-flame ionisation detection (GC-FID). It could be demonstrated that thermal desorption-GC-FID is feasible also for the analysis of polar compounds and that problems arising from the high concentration levels of some analytes in workplace air could be solved. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.