Determination of selected microbial volatile organic compounds by diffusive sampling and dual-column capillary GC-FID--a new feasible approach for the detection of an exposure to indoor mould fungi?

A new, analytically valid procedure is described to assess the exposure of human beings to the so-called microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) in air. The method can be used routinely for large sample numbers and is especially valuable as a basis for further research on the correlation between single MVOCs and indoor mould growth. The procedure is based on the fact that fungi produce a variety of volatile organic compounds, such as 3-methylbutan-1-ol, 3-methylbutan-2-ol, fenchone, heptan-2-one, hexan-2-one, octan-3-one, octan-3-ol, pentan-2-ol, alpha-terpineol, and thujopsene, which they emit into the indoor environment.

Influence of pH*-value of methanolic electrolytes on electroosmotic flow in hydrophilic coated capillaries.

The dependency of EOF on the H+-concentration and the related so called pH* value of methanolic electrolytes has been examined with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and uncoated capillaries. These results were compared with the pH dependency of EOF of these capillaries using aqueous buffers. In uncoated capillaries the dependency of EOF on the pH(*)-value is very similar for aqueous and methanolic electrolytes.

Determination of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes in indoor air at environmental levels using diffusive samplers in combination with headspace solid-phase microextraction and high-resolution gas chromatography-flame ionization detection.

An improved analytical method for passive air sampling is presented based on a combination of commercially available diffusive samplers with headspace solid-phase microextraction and high-resolution gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (HRGC-FID). This procedure is targeted for short-term BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-, m- and p-xylenes) determinations at environmental concentrations and can be applied for sampling intervals between 30 min and 24 h. The analytes are adsorbed onto the charcoal pad of a passive sampler and then extracted with carbon disulphide-methanol.