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Abstract: A novel needle-type sample preparation device was developed for the effective preconcentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air before gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis. To develop a device for extracting a wide range of VOCs typically found in indoor air, several types of particulate sorbents were tested as the extraction medium in the needle-type extraction device. To determine the content of these VOCs, air samples were collected for 30min with the packed sorbent(s) in the extraction needle, and the extracted VOCs were thermally desorbed in a GC injection port by the direct insertion of the needle. A double-bed sorbent consisting of a needle packed with divinylbenzene and activated carbon particles exhibited excellent extraction and desorption performance and adequate extraction capacity for all the investigated VOCs. The results also clearly demonstrated that the proposed sample preparation method is a more rapid, simpler extraction/desorption technique than traditional sample preparation methods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new approach to the determination of human breath acetone with particle-packed sample preparation needle was developed. The extraction needle was packed with a copolymer of methacrylic acid and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the extraction medium. For the analysis of breath sample, exhaled breath was collected in a sampling bag, and 50mL of the breath sample was extracted with the needle-type sample preparation device followed by analysis using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). After the optimization of several basic extraction conditions for standard acetone samples, breath acetone concentration taken from controlled type-2 diabetic patients was determined. Furthermore, time variations of breath and urine acetone of four healthy individuals under fasting conditions were measured. Urine sample was collected in glass vial, and urine acetone concentration was also determined with the extraction needle by analyzing the corresponding headspace gas. The results demonstrated that the particle-packed extraction needle showed an excellent extraction performance for acetone in both breath and urine headspace samples, and that there is a clear correlation between the concentration of breath acetone and HbA1c level of controlled type-2 diabetic patients. The breath acetone level in controlled diabetic patients was in the range between 0.19 and 0.66ppmv, where its concentration in medically untreated type-2 patient was 0.92 and 1.20ppmv. The breath acetone concentration in healthy male was increased to 5.66ppmv under the 24h of fasting test, and a high correlation between the breath and urine acetone concentration was also observed. On the basis of the above results, the potential applications of the proposed method to the diagnosis of diabetes and/or ketoacidosis were suggested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For two-dimensional reversed-phase liquid chromatography–gas chromatography (2D RPLC–GC), a specially-designed needle packed with a polymer-coated fibrous stationary phase was introduced as a novel interface. The bundle of synthetic fibers coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was packed into the head section of the needle, and served as the extraction medium. Using the post-column dilution of the LC eluent by water and subsequent extraction with the needle interface, the analyte was successfully concentrated to the PDMS phase on the fibrous support in the needle. The concentrated analytes were directly injected to GC system by inserting the needle to a heated GC injector. 2D separations of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, and also kerosene-extract were performed with the off-line RPLC–GC system interfaced by the needle extractor. The results suggested that the fiber-packed needle interface could be one of the simple and effective approaches to develop an on-line coupled LC–GC system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]