Application of micro-scale sealed vessel thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for the organic analysis of airborne particulate matter: linearity, reproducibility and quantification

Micro-scale sealed vessel thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (MSSV-TD–GC–MS) has been applied to the analysis of airborne particulate matter using the US NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM1649a) urban dust. We make qualitative comparisons with open system desorption and illustrate that caution should be used when using the technique without an open system comparison. We report linear responses over the same particulate mass range (1–5 mg) and good reproducibility [SD≤0.62 mg kg−1 (≤11%)]. We show linearity for a series of 10 n-alkanes and 10 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the SRM. The technique is also shown to be quantifiable (PAH concentrations typically 4–6 mg kg−1).