Supercritical fluid extraction coupled with chromatography-mass spectrometry: Hair analysis. Chromatography-mass spectrometry data processing using the CODA mathematical algorithm

The composition of medium-volatility organic compounds extracted from human hair using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was determined. The entire extract was trapped from a gas flow in a sorption device at the extractor outlet and thermally desorbed into a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instrument. The extracted compounds were identified either by the direct processing of GC-MS data or using the CODA mathematical algorithm. The combination of solventless SFE with the transfer of the entire extract into a GC-MS instrument with the direct analysis of GC-MS data allowed us to determine organic compounds at a level of 3.9 pg/mg hair. The CODA mathematical algorithm for the processing of GC-MS data allowed us to determine compounds at a level of 1.7 pg/mg hair; in the majority of publications, this determination limit was achieved either by selective ion detection or using a GC-MS-MS technique.