TY - JOUR
T1 - Advanced determination of biogenic volatile organic compounds in environmental water using dynamic headspace extraction
AU - Bektassov, Marat
AU - Thomsen, Lotte Dyrholm
AU - Baimatova, Nassiba
AU - Glasius, Marianne
PY - 2025/7
Y1 - 2025/7
N2 - Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) emissions surpassed those from anthropogenic sources of volatile organic compounds globally. BVOCs are crucial in tropospheric photochemical processes and significantly contribute to secondary organic aerosol formation, impacting the Earth's radiative balance. This study aimed to develop a reproducible, robust, and sensitive method for accurate determination of prevalent BVOCs (2-pentanone, dibromomethane, α-pinene, Δ3-carene, and nonanal) using dynamic headspace extraction with sorbent tubes and thermal desorption with a cryo-focusing trap coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The method extracts BVOCs from a 5.0 mL water sample onto a Tenax® TA tube, using 500 mL trapping gas at 30 °C and 500 mL drying gas at 40 °C. The detection limit of BVOCs in water ranged between 0.05 μg L−1 and 0.31 μg L−1, with recoveries of 100.2%-121.5%. The method exhibited high linearity, with correlation coefficients (R2) ≥ 0.998 and relative standard deviations of slopes from 1.9 to 5.7% across calibration concentrations from 1 to 200 μg L−1, enabling BVOC measurements in a wide range of water samples to better characterize their levels and trends. To estimate the matrix effect of dissolved organic matter (DOM), spiked MilliQ water was compared to samples from University Lake (523 µmolC L−1) and Disko Bay seawater samples (88 µmolC L−1). The matrix effect observed on high-DOM lake samples emphasizes the influence of the matrix on analyte recovery. The broad analytical range of the method allows for comprehensive characterization of BVOC in diverse aqueous matrices using minimal sample volumes while ensuring robust sensitivity and reproducibility.
AB - Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) emissions surpassed those from anthropogenic sources of volatile organic compounds globally. BVOCs are crucial in tropospheric photochemical processes and significantly contribute to secondary organic aerosol formation, impacting the Earth's radiative balance. This study aimed to develop a reproducible, robust, and sensitive method for accurate determination of prevalent BVOCs (2-pentanone, dibromomethane, α-pinene, Δ3-carene, and nonanal) using dynamic headspace extraction with sorbent tubes and thermal desorption with a cryo-focusing trap coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The method extracts BVOCs from a 5.0 mL water sample onto a Tenax® TA tube, using 500 mL trapping gas at 30 °C and 500 mL drying gas at 40 °C. The detection limit of BVOCs in water ranged between 0.05 μg L−1 and 0.31 μg L−1, with recoveries of 100.2%-121.5%. The method exhibited high linearity, with correlation coefficients (R2) ≥ 0.998 and relative standard deviations of slopes from 1.9 to 5.7% across calibration concentrations from 1 to 200 μg L−1, enabling BVOC measurements in a wide range of water samples to better characterize their levels and trends. To estimate the matrix effect of dissolved organic matter (DOM), spiked MilliQ water was compared to samples from University Lake (523 µmolC L−1) and Disko Bay seawater samples (88 µmolC L−1). The matrix effect observed on high-DOM lake samples emphasizes the influence of the matrix on analyte recovery. The broad analytical range of the method allows for comprehensive characterization of BVOC in diverse aqueous matrices using minimal sample volumes while ensuring robust sensitivity and reproducibility.
KW - BVOCs
KW - Dynamic headspace extraction
KW - Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
KW - Sorption tube
KW - Water samples
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105005461534
U2 - 10.1016/j.microc.2025.113989
DO - 10.1016/j.microc.2025.113989
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:105005461534
SN - 0026-265X
VL - 214
JO - Microchemical Journal
JF - Microchemical Journal
M1 - 113989
ER -