Advanced determination of biogenic volatile organic compounds in environmental water using dynamic headspace extraction
Bektassov M. Thomsen L.D. Baimatova N. Glasius M.
July 2025Elsevier Inc.
Microchemical Journal
2025#214
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 Earths 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.
BVOCs , Dynamic headspace extraction , Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry , Sorption tube , Water samples
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Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
Center of Physical Chemical Methods of Research and Analysis, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Environmental and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology
Department of Chemistry
Center of Physical Chemical Methods of Research and Analysis
Environmental and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory
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