Uncovering Hidden Pollutants: Advances in Thermal Desorption for Environmental Contaminant Analysis

Growing concerns over the harmful exposure to low levels of hazardous air pollutants have led to increasingly demanding volatile organic compound (VOC) monitoring programs worldwide. Regulations are evolving and laboratories are now required to increase monitoring frequency, expand the list of target compounds and reach lower detection limits in ambient air. A recent example of this is the update to TO-15.

Alongside this, ambient and indoor air research continues to identify new and challenging compounds which will require monitoring in the future. Classes of pollutants, such as PFAS, microplastics and particulate matter dominate the global environmental news today.

In this presentation we will look at how thermal desorption combined with GC-MS is able to respond to the changing demands of regulated monitoring for these applications. And for emerging pollutants, we will explore how thermal desorption is being used in cutting edge research to aid understanding of these emerging compounds and their effect on human health.

Key webinar take-aways:

• See how water management technology can give you an edge when striving to lower method detection limits in-line with TO-15a guidance
• Learn how the latest developments in thermal desorption extend the analyte range, and allow you to discover more in environmental samples
• Understand how thermal desorption technology can be applied to wide ranging environmental matrices to simplify workflows for complex samples
• Hear about the latest research applying thermal desorption to emerging environmental contaminants, including microplastics and PFAS

Presenter: Hannah Calder (Environmental Air Market Development Manager, Markes International)

Hannah Calder is a specialist in the use of pre-concentration techniques for environmental air monitoring, and has been a member of Markes International’s global team of technical experts for 7 years following her Masters degree in Chemistry obtained from Cardiff University in 2011. Specializing in thermal desorption, Hannah is involved in advising Markes customers on how to develop their capabilities in this area, sits on international standards committees as a technical advisor and has extensive practical experience of using TD as an analytical tool for a wide range of applications. Hannah’s analytical chemistry experience also extends to mass spectrometry and advanced separations, with a particular focus on two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOF MS).