IDENTIFICATION AND DETERMINATION OF BIOGENIC AND ANTHROPOGENIC VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS IN FOREST AREAS OF NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN EUROPE AND A REMOTE SITE OF THE HIMALAYA REGION BY HIGH-RESOLUTION GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

More than 100 volatile organic compounds of natural and man-made origi n were identified and determined in air samples collected in forest an d remote areas. The combined use of carbon adsorption traps and high-r esolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry made possible the selec tive determination of polar compounds such as organic acids, alcohols and carbonyl compounds by selected-ion detection. A comparison between the distribution and composition of volatile organic components recor ded in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean basin and the Himalaya regio n seem to be indicative of the ubiquitous occurrence of some polar org anic compounds of biogenic origin. The determinations carried out in t he Italian Station built by the National Research Council (CNR) of Ita ly at the foot of Mount Everest show clearly that, under favourable co nditions, substantial amounts of organic pollutants of man-made origin can be transported over unpolluted areas.