Material Emissions, Product Offgassing & Safety

Algae, particularly green-blue algae, along with other bacteria in surface water pose potential problems for drinking water supplies. Additionally, testing for other potential hazards such as high levels of trihalomethanes (THMs) such as cholorform, can be costly and slow. Entech’s patent pending Porous Cartridge Micro Extraction technology takes SPME to the next level by providing a enhanced sensitivity, improved quantitation, and greater robustness than its fiber based predecessor.

Water Odor

Geosmin (1,2,7,7-tetramethyl-2-norborneol) and 2-MIB (2-methylisoborneol), compounds produced by blue-green algae, cause musty unpleasant odors in public water supply reservoirs. While these compounds are not known to be a health concern, it is common practice to remove the odor and monitor Geosmin and 2-MIB.

Entech has created an improved version of SPME, called VASE. VASE uses Vacuum Assisted Sorbent Extraction. The cartridge can be coated with absorbents such as PDMS and has a 1/8” hollow interior that holds up to 100mg of Tenax TA or other adsorbents. VASE has a flow through design that allows the creation of a vacuum after the cartridge is inserted into the sample headspace to vastly increase the diffusion rate from the liquid/headspace boundary to the cartridge.

Vacuum extractions can occur 4-8 times faster, especially for heavier aromas or off-odors such as Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol (lake water smell) in drinking water with accurate quantitation down to as low as 1-2 part-per-trillion.

Several VASE cartridges can sample simultaneously for improved sensitivity when performing low part-per-trillion level headspace analysis.

Learn More About VASE