Characterization of a TenaxTA/Carboxen 1000 multibed tube for the thermal desorption analysis of VOCs in air

A sorbent for the thermal desorption-GC/MS to analyze volatile organic compounds (VOC) and phthalic acid esters(PAE) in air was selected and characterized. The combination of commercial sorbents of TenaxTA and Carboxen1000 packed in sequence into a desorption tube was applied to compounds with a wide boiling point, such as ethanol, through diethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP). The analytical results were confirmed for the linearity of the calibration over a range of 10∼500 ng with a correlation coefficient of 0.999∼1.000, and also for a repeatability of 1.5∼2.0% to VOC and 2.2∼6.2% to PAE. The detection limit was found to be 0.07∼2.67 ng for 3 liters, or a detection limit of 0.02 μg/m3 for toluene. With the prepared tube, of sampled air a simultaneous analysis of VOC and PAE in indoor air and in the emitted gas from the building materials was performed.