Determining the level of chemical contaminants to which workers may be exposed is increasingly being measured by passive dosimeters using gas chromatography (GC). Current conventional GC instruments have cycle times of approximately 30 minutes. A high speed GC system could analyze 20-40 times more samples and result in expanded monitoring. This project will develop such a laboratory instrument. This could lead to the of monitoring of workers becoming more routine. This project will develop an instrument with a universal high-speed inlet system which can be retrofitted to all major laboratory GCs. In addition, a novel tandem column ensemble will be developed to separate 24 of the most commonly analyzed compounds from personal monitors. The Phase I effort will involve the development of the optimized separation conditions for the target compounds on the ensemble. In addition, the inlet system will be designed to prevent the corrosion that normally occurs due to the carbon disulfide solvent used to desorb the samples from the personal monitors. Finally, potential sources of quantitative error will be identified. In Phase II of the project, a universal high-speed inlet system and electronics package will be developed to retrofit all major laboratory GCs. An engineering prototype instrument will be set up at a commercial laboratory that analyzes personal monitors its for evaluation and validation.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:This project will result in a laboratory high-speed GC inlet device capable of analyzing samples desorbed from personal monitors. The resulting inlet will work with all major GCs used in the occupational exposure assessment market. In addition, this instrument could be configured to address the larger direct monitoring and laboratory GC marketplaces where trace analysis and speed are beneficial. It can be sold with the original equipment or as a retrofit.
