News from LabRulezGCMS Library - Week 50, 2025

Our Library never stops expanding. What are the most recent contributions to LabRulezGCMS Library in the week of 8th December 2025? Check out new documents from the field of the gas phase, especially GC and GC/MS techniques!

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This week we bring you application notes by Agilent Technologies and Thermo Fisher Scientific and other document by Shimadzu!

1. Agilent Technologies: High-Precision Determination of Four Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere Using the Agilent 8890 GC

• Application note
• Full PDF for download

Currently, China is actively implementing dual-control measures on total energy consumption and intensity. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued "The 14th Five-Year Plan for Ecological and Environmental Monitoring", which specifically highlights the advancement of technologies for direct measurement of carbon emissions. It calls for organizing pilot projects in multiple key industries and enterprises to monitor greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane, establishing greenhouse gas monitoring networks in key cities, and upgrading the greenhouse gas monitoring capabilities of national atmospheric background stations. As a result, conducting greenhouse gas monitoring within the environmental protection stations of provinces and cities has become a critical task.

The use of GC for detecting greenhouse gases has a long history. The conventional methods used gas sampling valve for injection, TCD and FID for sequential detection of CO₂ and CH₄ , or combining a methanizer with an FID to detect CO₂ and CH₄ in one analytical channel and detecting N₂O on ECD in another analytical channel.² The analytical precision for CO₂, CH₄, and N2 O achieved with such configurations typically ranges from 0.2% to 0.5%, but it is difficult to obtain precision better than 0.1%, which does not meet the current requirements for greenhouse gas monitoring accuracy and precision. Moreover, the traditional methods rarely report analytical precision for SF₆ at ppt concentration levels. To monitor trace levels of CO₂ , CH₄, N₂O, and ultratrace levels of SF₆ on the same GC system with high-precision results, it is necessary to optimize multiple factors included in sample injection, separation, and detection. Furthermore, the system configuration must be flexible enough to allow expansion for future analytical needs, such as incorporating trace CO analysis in air. This work demonstrates how the 8890 GC achieves high-precision analysis of four key greenhouse gases by optimizing the injection volume, controlling injection reproducibility, and utilizing multichannel separation and high-sensitivity detectors to ensure the system runs stably in long‑term operation.

Experimental

Instrumental 

The 8890 GC is configured as a three-channel/multivalve/multicolumn system, enabling independent analysis of four greenhouse gases—CH₄ , CO₂ , N₂O, and SF₆ —within 8 minutes using a single injection. The target compounds are analyzed in separate channels, reducing chromatographic peak broadening and thereby improving sensitivity and repeatability. 

• For CO₂ analysis, a methanizer is used to convert CO₂ to CH₄ , which is then detected by FID. The system eliminates the need for dehydration through backflushing and venting operation via switching valves, preventing interference from moisture and oxygen in the air and extending the lifespan of the methanizer. 
• For N₂O and SF₆ analysis, the ECD with hidden anode design is used for high‑sensitivity detection and strong anti‑contaminant capability. 
• The CH₄ analysis is conducted on a single column with a dedicated large injection loop, significantly enhancing detection sensitivity and repeatability, achieving a detection limit for methane as low as single-digit ppb levels.

Conclusion 

Based on its exceptional pneumatic control and valve-based flow path design, the multivalve/multicolumn Agilent 8890 GC system achieves high-sensitivity and high-precision measurements of four key greenhouse gases. This is accomplished through optimized and precise control of sample flow rate/volume, selection of premium analytical columns, and the use of highly stable and robust FID and ECD. Standard gas samples of CO2 , CH4 , N2 O, and SF6 , with concentrations equivalent to atmospheric levels, were measured continuously 10 times. The measurement precision for these gases was better than 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.1%, and 0.5%, respectively, fully meeting the high-precision monitoring requirements of environmental monitoring stations at various levels for target greenhouse gases. Compared to other monitoring solutions, this approach is based on a stable and reliable gas chromatography platform that is technically easier to master and deploy. It represents a trusted solution developed by Agilent to assist in establishing a greenhouse gas monitoring network in China.

2. Shimadzu: GC/MS Mass Spectra Library - Polymer Additives Library Ver.2

• Other document
• Full PDF for download

Contains Approximately 5,800 Mass Spectra 

This library consists of a library*, which contains 5,775 mass spectra for 590 types of polymer additives and GC/MS pyrolysates from the pyrolysis GC/MS analysis of additives, and a library containing the mass spectra for 65 compounds often targeted for analysis, selected based on their usage in the commercial market, and chemical substance regulatory information. In total, this product contains 5,840 mass spectra, which provides strong support for the analysis of polymer additives. In Ver.2, the compound registration has been newly enhanced, for example vulcanizing accelerators utilized in the rubber filed. Approximately 1,000 spectra have been added. 

*ADD-MS22B F-Search Additives Library from Frontier Laboratories

Can Be Used with a Variety of GC/MS Systems 

The library can be used for a variety of GC/MS applications, including pyrolysis GC/MS, which is widely used for the analysis of additives in polymer materials, and liquid sample injection GC/MS. It supports a wide range of additive analysis for customers.

Library Specifications

• Registered compounds: 5,775+65 
• Registered information: Mass spectrum, retention index for each analytical condition, compound name, molecular weight, compositional formula, structural formula, classification of additives
• Applicable models: GCMS-QP™ series, GCMS-TQ™ series (This library does not include MS/MS spectra.) 
• Pyrolyzer (Pyrolysis analysis system): PY-2020D, PY-2020iD, and EGA/PY-3030D
• Workstations: GCMSsolution™ Ver. 4.6 and later, LabSolutions™ GCMS™ Ver. 5.131 and later, LabSolutions DB/CS GCMS Ver. 6.131 and later

3. Thermo Fisher Scientific: Trace analysis of epichlorohydrin in drinking water using GC-MS coupled with purge and trap

• Application note
• Full PDF for download

Epichlorohydrin (ECH) is a versatile starting material in the production of drugs and polymers and is also used as an insect fumigant and solvent for organic synthesis reactions. ECH-based polymer pipes are commonly used in the production of drinking water due to their durability and resistance to corrosion. However, ECH is known for its high reactivity and toxicity, which poses significant health risks if it contaminates drinking water. Exposure to ECH can cause respiratory issues, skin irritation, and has been classified as a probable human carcinogen.¹

Due to these risks, many countries have imposed strict limits on the amount of ECH allowed in drinking water. Recently, Europe set a minimum detection limit (MDL) of 30 parts per trillion (ppt) for ECH in drinking water.² Whereas typically required detection limits for most compounds mandated for analysis in Europe can be achieved using methods based on static headspace, the stringent MDL required for ECH requires preconcentration, for example using purge and trap (P&T) technology.^3,4 This technology involves purging the water sample with an inert gas to release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are then trapped and concentrated for analysis, ensuring reliable detection at very low concentrations. In the United States, the analysis of VOCs in drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA requires the use of P&T technology for drinking water analysis to ensure that even trace amounts of harmful compounds like ECH are detected and managed appropriately. 

The following evaluation describes the use of the ISQ 7610 Single Quadrupole MS system coupled with the Thermo Scientific™ TRACE™ 1610 GC with the Thermo Scientific™ HeSaver-H2 Safer™ split/splitless injector and Teledyne LABS Tekmar Lumin P&T concentrator combined with the AQUATek LVA autosampler for the analysis of ECH in drinking water.

Experimental

GC-MS parameters 

A TRACE 1610 GC was coupled to the ISQ 7610 MS equipped with the Thermo Scientific™ NeverVent ™ vacuum probe interlock (VPI) and an ExtractaBrite ion source. A Thermo Scientific™ TraceGOLD™ TG-VMS column, 30 m × 0.25 mm, 1.4 µm film (P/N 26080-3320) was used for compound separation. The HeSaver-H2 Safer SSL injector was utilized to reduce the carrier gas consumption by decoupling the gas used for the chromatographic separation from the gas used to pressurize the inlet and maintain split and purge flows. The critical separations were maintained with a run time of under 15 minutes.

For this analysis, the ISQ 7610 MS was operated in Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) mode for increased selectivity, as required for this application. Extended method parameters for the ISQ 7610 MS are shown in Table 2.

Instrument control and data processing 

Data was acquired, processed, and reported using the Thermo Scientific™ Chromeleon™ Chromatography Data System (CDS). This software can control both the GC-MS system and the Tekmar Lumin P&T with the AQUATek LVA. This allows a single software to be utilized for the full workflow, simplifying the instrument operation. This application note is available for download via the Thermo Scientific™ AppsLab Library, which contains all the parameters needed to acquire, process, and report the analytical data for analysis of ECH.5

Conclusion 

This study demonstrates the capability of the Tekmar Lumin P&T with the AQUATek LVA system connected to the ISQ 7610 Single Quadrupole GC-MS to detect and quantify low-level ECH in drinking water samples, in compliance with EPA requirements. 

• Utilizing the Tekmar Lumin P&T’s ability to purge with nitrogen, along with using the HeSaver-H₂Safer SSL injector, nearly four times less helium was consumed during the analysis without sacrificing system performance. 
• The linearity of the calibration curve from 30 ppt to 5,000 ppt passed method requirements.
• The application proved robust during an extended study with 20 samples of a 1,000 ppt ECH standard injected over a series of 124 injections, obtaining 4.4% precision and 118% accuracy of the recovery.