A new purge-and-membrane mass spectrometric (PAM-MS) instrument for analysis of volatile organic compounds in soil samples

Purge-and-membrane mass spectrometry (PAM-MS) is a combination of dynamic h eadspace technique and membrane extraction. A new purge-and-membrane sample r is introduced and its basic test results, such as the effects of sample p re-heating/desorption temperature, pre-heating time, moisture content in so il, methanol concentration in the samples, purge gas and soil type are brie fly reported. Three different soil types were used in the method developmen t, namely sand, peat and commercial garden soil. Some authentic soil sample s were also analyzed and the results were compared to those obtained with s tatic headspace gas chromatography. The agreement was generally good.