A PF-GC for Environmental Health Breath Assessment

气动聚焦气相色谱(PFGC，正在申请专利)已经实现了对波特兰或俄勒冈州环境空气中苯的检测极限为万亿分之20(0.8pmoL/升)。PFGC有一个用于通用碳氢化合物检测的FID。人体呼气中的主要内源化合物是甲烷、甲醇、乙醇、丙酮、乙酸甲酯和异戊二烯。甲烷的浓度为80nmol/L，乙酸甲酯的浓度为400pmol/L或更低。据报道，人类呼气中还存在1000多种化合物，其中许多来自于吸入的空气。接触有毒物质，如苯系物或其他工业化学品，将在呼吸和环境空气环境中证明自己。与目前的仪器方法相比，PFGC可以以更高的灵敏度和更低的成本检测呼吸和环境空气中已建立的化合物。PFGC有可能使呼吸分析研究的方法学标准化。第一阶段的目标是改装3台商用气相色谱仪，用于气动聚焦，并展示它们在单柱和双柱模式下的性能。将对特定毛细管柱的分辨率和选择性进行评估。性能将通过室内空气/呼气同步分析进行评估，以评估有毒暴露和通过肺部吸收挥发性有机化合物。拟议的商业应用：潜在的商业应用包括用于现场暴露评估和标准监测概况的呼气分析，作为人类和其他生物暴露和代谢研究的研究工具，以及用于人寿保险筛选药物使用、烟草吸烟的被动标记物，以及作为有毒化学品暴露评估工具。

Pneumatic Focusing Gas Chromatography (PFGC, patent pending) has achieved a limit of detection of 20 parts per trillion (0.8 pmol/liter) for benzene in ambient air in Portland OR. PFGC has a FID for universal hydrocarbon detection. Major endogenous compounds in human breath are methane, methanol, ethanol, acetone, methyl acetate, and isoprene. Their concentrations range from 80 nmol/L for methane to 400 pmol/L or less for methyl acetate. More than 1000 additional compounds have been reported present in human breath, many originating in the inhaled air. Exposure to toxics such as BTEX or other industrial chemicals will evidence itself in breath as well as in the ambient air environment. PFGC can detect the compounds already established in breath and ambient air with better sensitivity and lower cost than current instrumental methods. PFGC has the potential to standardize the methodology of breath analysis research. The goal of Phase I is to modify 3 commercial gas chromatographs for pneumatic focusing and demonstrate their performance in single and dual-column modes. Specific capillary column choice for resolution and selectivity will be evaluated. Performance will be evaluated with simultaneous indoor air/breath analysis for assessment of toxic exposure and uptake through the lungs of volatile organic compounds. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Potential commercial applications include breath analysis for exposure assessment onsite, and in standard monitoring profiles, as a research tool of human and other organismal exposure and metabolic studies, and for life insurance screening for passive markers of drug use, tobacco smoking, and as a toxic chemical exposure assessment tool.