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Analysis of Low Concentration Oxygenates in Environmental Water Samples Using Purge and Trap Concentration and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

Abstract: The frequent use of oxygenate additives in gasoline to produce clean burning fuels has led to widespread and well documented contamination of ground water and drinking water supplies. The phasing out of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as the oxygenate of choice has led to an increased interest in testing for other common additives. These other additives may be ethers other than MTBE but also methanol or ethanol may be considered. Traditional techniques used for the analysis of volatile organic compounds in drinking and ground waters frequently employ the use of a purge and trap concentrator interfaced with a gas chromatograph. Detectors being used range from photoionization detectors (PID) and electrolytic conductivity detectors (ELCD) to mass selective detectors (MSD). Mass spectrometry is becoming the detection mode of choice for these additives as it provides an additional level of confirmatory confidence in the presence of many potential matrix interferences. However, the challenge of extracting extremely polar analytes from an aqueous matrix requires modification and optimization of the purge and trap concentrator from its typical settings. As laboratories are seeking to determine these polar additives in the low part-per-billion (ppb) range it is important that all aspects of the system be optimized. This paper will discuss system settings necessary for achieving low level quantitation of additives such as methanol and ethanol

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