Pressurised liquid extraction--comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography for fast-screening of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil.

Pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) was applied to the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from contaminated soils from Husarviken in Stockholm, Sweden. The extraction step was followed by conventional gas chromatography (GC), comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) (both with flame ionisation detection) and gas chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of the results are considered.

A review of environmental toxicant analysis by using multidimensional gas chromatography and comprehensive GC.

The purpose of this review is to highlight the developments in coupled-column gas chromatography methods for qualitative analysis of selected environmental toxicants such as dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), etc. In particular, the new technique of GC x GC will be introduced, and its role, and the promise it offers to this field is discussed. The benefits of enhanced separation to quantitative analysis will be considered.

Influence of chromatographic conditions on separation in comprehensive gas chromatography.

Comprehensive gas chromatography (GC x GC) is now established as a powerful technique, which offers unprecedented separation power. For complex samples, the distribution of peaks in the two-dimensional (2D) space still may need to be optimised. Since temperature (T) is a critical variable, and compounds can be shifted in relative positions on column 1 arising from temperature program rate (rT) changes, and since retention in the second dimension, D2 (2tR) is likewise affected by the prevailing T (elution temperature; Te), then any factors which alter Te will affect the extent of separation in D2.

A review of basic concepts in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.

The technique of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) is reviewed. A description of technical aspects of the method illustrates how the GCxGC result is achieved through the use of dual-coupled columns and the modulation of capillary chromatographic peaks. This review presents an expanded section dealing with the relationship between the modulation phase and frequency and the resulting peak pulse profiles.