title: A small subsurface ion mobility spectrometer sensor for detecting environmental soil-gas contaminants.
abstract: A small subsurface ion mobility spectrometer (SS-IMS) was constructed and tested with several environmental contaminants to determine its potential for monitoring gaseous volatile organic compounds in the vadose zone. Trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were detected and separated in IMS for the first time. Detection limits as low as 1 part per billion volume-to-volume (ppb(v)) were observed. Reduced mobility (K(0)) values were reported for 11 environmental contaminants. These data demonstrated the potential of ion mobility spectrometry as a viable technology for detecting and separating environmental soil-gas contaminants in the field, which may lead to a practical and simple approach for long-term monitoring of contaminated soils.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA 16444-0001, USA.
authors.forename: Abu B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kanu
authors.forename: Herbert H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Molly M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gribb
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Walters
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D013750:Tetrachloroethylene / Q000032:analysis; D014241:Trichloroethylene / Q000032:analysis; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014241:Trichloroethylene; D013750:Tetrachloroethylene