ADSORPTION THERMAL-DESORPTION FOR THE DETERMINATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS IN WATER

An adsorption/thermal desorption (ATD) method for volatile organic compounds is developed using small bed volume (0.68 cm3) cartridges of the sorbent Tenax-TA. The method allows an ATD cartridge to be desorbed and analyzed with ca. 30-mu-l of residual water still on the cartridge. The method employs a water trap between the ATD thermal desorber and the capillary column. Results obtained indicate that (1) column plugging by ice can be avoided completely, (2) the water trap has a high transmission efficiency, (3) excellent chromatography can be obtained and (4) good comparability of results is obtainable between purge and trap and ATD for many volatile organic compounds at concentrations ranging for fractions of mu-g/l to hundreds of mu-g/l.