Fast gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry of polychlorinated biphenyls and other environmental contaminants

Practical applications of fast gas chromatography (GC) with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) are presented. A narrow-bore column (0.10-mm i.d.) is used to analyze over 100 specific polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in an Aroclor mix and a sediment sample in 10.5 min. Sample preparation is minimized for the sediment to more closely match the speed advantage gained by using fast GC-TOFMS. The possibility of using a 0.53-mm-i.d. column operated under vacuum-outlet conditions for fast GC-TOFMS is established for Aroclors and a suite of environmental contaminants. Fast acquisition rates and automated peak-rind and spectral deconvolution capabilities are demonstrated for TOFMS.