Evaluation of non-invasive approaches for the analysis of exogenous and endogenous VOCs

Evaluation of non-invasive approaches for the analysis of exogenous and endogenous VOCs

Presenting author: Beate Gruber (Research Institute for Chromatography)

Coauthors: Frank David (Research Institute for Chromatography), Kazuhisa Mitsui (Japan Tobacco Inc., TSRC), Satomi Tsukui (Japan Tobacco Inc., TSRC)

Full Poster: 

http://ow.ly/no7V30pU32t

Abstract: 

Non-invasive techniques for monitoring volatile metabolites in body fluids and exhaled breath have become increasingly established in areas such as human biomonitoring, clinical diagnostics, and forensics. Since only trace amounts of VOCs are emitted by the human body, pre-concentration is required prior to analysis. Although sampling of e.g. exhaled air offers promising advantages such as large sample quantities, this step often represents the biggest bottleneck in the analysis workflow. Therefore, different sampling approaches have been evaluated for the analysis of human-emitted VOCs in exhaled breath as well as skin emissions and subsequent thermal desorption coupled with gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. Taking into account the effects of sampling parameters such as sorbent type, sampling volume and moisture effects, various approaches have been tested in a targeted approach using reference substances and non-invasive sampling of VOCs derived from the human body in a nutritional study. Comparing the nutritional target profiles delivered by body fluids and exhaled breath, a holistic view of volatile metabolites was achieved.

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