Determination of the threshold odor concentration of main odorants in essential oils using gas chromatography-olfactometry incremental dilution technique.

An essential oil, obtained by steam distillation of Clinopodium tomentosum (Kunth) Govaerts (Lamiaceae), collected in Ecuador, was analyzed by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and GC-MS techniques. To our knowledge, the composition of this essential oil is described here for the first time, both from the chemical and olfactometric viewpoints. A preliminary analysis by GC-MS and using Kovats' retention indexes, lead to characterize and quantify the oil constituents, while GC-O was then applied for the identification of the main odorants.

Simultaneous determination of unmodified sevoflurane and of its metabolite hexafluoroisopropanol in urine by headspace sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Unmodified sevoflurane and its metabolite, hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP), have both been proposed as biomarkers of exposure in post-shift urine for operating room personnel exposed to inhalation anaesthetic sevoflurane. We used headspace sorptive extraction (HSSE) and thermal desorption-capillary GC-MS to assess sensitively both compounds in the urine matrix (after a HFIP deconjugation step). In GC-MS splitless mode, calibration plots (approximately 15-650 microg/L) were linear (r2 > 0.