Vacuum Assisted Sorbent Extraction (VASE) is a next generation extraction technique capable of greatly extending the range of extractable compounds over other headspace or even full immersion techniques. Virtually all liquid and solid samples to be analyzed by GC or GCMS are compatible with this exciting technique that was recently made even better by modifying the presentation of the Sorbent Pen to the vacuum headspace that completely prevents the deposition of aerosols on the outside of the Sorbent Pen during rapid agitation. Aerosol contamination is a known issue with HS-SPME and other headspace techniques where splashing of the sample can lead to the deposition of non-volatile compounds on the extraction device, shorting the lifetime of these devices and increasing the production of thermal breakdown products that can be hard to distinguish from compounds that were actually in the original sample.

VASE is performed under vacuum which allows compounds to migrate much faster to the extraction device positioned only a few centimeters away, and the tremendous increase in phase over HS-SPME (>100,000x increase in surface area over a PDMS fiber) can virtually eliminate matrix affects thereby dramatically improving sensitivity and extraction reproducibility. Due to the consistency of the VASE technique, multiple Sorbent Pens can be used to extract several samples in parallel to increase the sample throughput with very little “Pen to Pen” variability in the results. Sorbent Pens with 1, 2, or 3 sorbent beds are available based on the desired boiling point range to be recovered, and custom sorbent packings are also available upon request. Analysis of the Sorbent Pen extracts are performed using the 5800 Sorbent Pen Desorption Unit (5800 SPDU), which provides multiple desorption options including SPLIT, SPLITLESS, and SPLITLESS VOC modes to optimize the recovery of compounds of interest.