GC-FTIRS - APPLICATIONS IN ORGANIC TRACE ANALYSIS

The GC-FTIRS coupling used as a measuring instrument in trace analytical procedures can be fully effective only, if the maximum possible sensitivity is provided simultaneously with undistorted chromatographic and spectrometric representation of the eluted compounds. Great efforts have been made in last years to design improved interfacing and measurement principles. GC capillary separation with flow-through gas cells (lightpipes), matrix isolation and cryodeposition techniques are discussed and compared in this paper, especially in terms of sensitivity. Examples of applications on the determination of organic traces in various matrices, e.g. extracts of sediments, coal, beverages and fruits are given. It could be demonstrated that the minimum identification concentration of a herbicide in ground- and drinking water is approximately 1 ppb using an analytical procedure with solid state enrichment, large sample injection and GC-FTIRS with the light-pipe technique. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.