Safety management by use of laser mass spectrometry of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the processed gas and work environment of a PCB disposal plant

Abstract

This study demonstrates the applicability of laser mass spectrometry for safety management of the processed gas and the work environment in a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) disposal plant. By utilization of laser ionization/ ion trapping storage/time-of-fl ight mass spectrometry (LI-IT-TOFMS), we analyzed gaseous PCBs from scrap capacitors with on-line detection. It was confi rmed that few contaminants were detected in the spectrum. By the effect of laser-induced selective ionization, it was considered that there was little interference with the mass range of PCBs. The accuracy of LI-IT-TOFMS when analyzing environmental gas was almost the same as that for the PCB standard gas. It was possible to perform on-line analysis of the work environment for over 2000 h (120 000 data points). LI-IT-TOFMS was thus shown to be a very useful method for ensuring the safety of the work environment in disposal plants for PCBs. Figure 1 presents an overview of the LI-IT-TOFMS method. Mass spectrometry with laser ionization, which features molecular selectivity and fragment-free ionization over short time periods, 6-8 is a very suitable method for environmental trace analysis. The advantage of ion trap source-J Mater Cycles Waste Manag (2009) 11:148-154

Comparison of the Detection Characteristics of Trace Species Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and Laser Breakdown Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

“…The detection limit of measured species using TOFMS is often ppb or less. TOFMS with several ionization processes has been applied to measure hydrocarbons and nanoparticle constituents at low concentration ranges of ppb–ppt [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], as well as waste disposal and treatment plants [ 51 , 52 , 53 ]. There are other developed TOFMS applications in several fields, such as the medical and pharmaceutical fields [ 54 , 55 ].…”