Gas Chromatography/Mass

Spectrometry (GC/MS)
Description
The Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) instrument
separates chemical mixtures (the GC component) and identifies the
components at a molecular level (the MS component). It is one of the
most accurate tools for analyzing environmental samples. The GC
works on the principle that a mixture will separate into individual
substances when heated. The heated gases are carried through a
column with an inert gas (such as helium). As the separated
substances emerge from the column opening, they flow into the MS.
Mass spectrometry identifies compounds by the mass of the analyte
molecule. A ÒlibraryÓ of known mass spectra, covering several
thousand compounds, is stored on a computer. Mass spectrometry is
considered the only definitive analytical detector.

Limitations and Concerns

Sample analysis is often time consuming. Newly developed portable
GC/MS models may offset this concern.

Applicability
GC/MS is a technique that can be used to
separate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and pesticides. Portable
GC units can be used to detect pollutants in the air, and they are
currently used for vapor intrusion investigations. However other uses
of GC or MS, combined with other separation and analytical
techniques, have been developed for radionuclides, explosive
compounds such as Royal Demolition Explosive
(RDX) and Trinitrotoluene (TNT), and metals. Some of these are
described below.
A type of spectrometry can also be used to continuously monitor
incinerator emissions, in place of a standard method that collects
samples from a gas stream for laboratory analysis. That standard
method has a relatively long turn around time, and it does not provide
information that catastrophic releases have occurred or that there is a
system failure. With real-time, continuous monitoring, all releases are
monitored, and if there is a system breakdown, the system can be
turned off and/or the nearby community can be notified.

Technology Development Status

The first general application of molecular mass spectrometry occurred
in the early 1940s in the petroleum industry for quantitative analysis
of hydrocarbonmixtures in catalytic crackers. Recently, manufacturers
of GC/MS instruments have significantly reduced their overall size
and increased durability. This allows what was once a laboratory
bench-top instrument to perform field analysis.

Web Links
http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/sep/gc/gc.html

http://clu-in.org/char/technologies/gc.cfm

http://www.clu-in.org/char/technologies/mspec.cfm

Other Resources and Demonstrations

See http://www.clu-in.org/download/techdrct/tdmpa_gc-
ms_report.pdf for ÒInnovations in Site Characterization—
Technology Evaluation: Real-Time VOC Analysis Using a Field
Portable GC/MSÓ (EPA 542-R-01-011). This report describes the use
of a field GC/MS to measure trichloroethylene on a real-time basis.

See http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/icpms/intro.html for a description of

inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), a technique
developed at Ames Laboratory in the 1970s. It is a tool that is very
sensitive and selective for multi-element analysis. This method needs
only very small samples, from a nanoliter to a microliter in volume.
Reportedly, it can analyze radioactive samples with little or no
containment considerations.

The Department of Energy (DOE) uses spectrometry as a component

of a Continuous Emissions Monitor (CEM). It analyzes, and measures
the light produced when off-gas emissions from the thermal treatment
of mixed waste. Its principal application at DOE sites is monitoring
the volatile metal, mercury (Hg), two semi-volatile metals, cadmium
(Cd) and lead (Pb), and three low-volatile metals, arsenic (As),
beryllium (Be), and chromium (Cr). The U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency has classified these metals as hazardous air
pollutants (HAPs). DOE incinerators that treat mixed waste also have
to monitor any emissions of alpha-emitting materials, including
uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu). Currently, DOE uses filters to
control particulate emissions and uses high volume air samplers and
laboratory analysis of the filters from those samplers to monitor
emissions.

DOE has also developed a Direct Sampling Ion Trap Mass

Spectrometry (DSITMS). This technology is used to determine the
presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile
organic compounds (SVOCs) in groundwater and soil, and in gaseous
remediation process streams at hazardous waste sites. The system
utilizes a commercially available ion trap mass spectrometer. With
some modifications, the mass spectrometer is made field
transportable.

See http://clu-in.org/characterization/technologies/exp.cfm#86 for a

technical description of explosives in different media and the use of some
analytical techniques.