Development of a purge and trap continuous flow system for the stable carbon isotope analysis of volatile halogenated organic compounds in water

A purge and trap (P&T) continuous flow system was developed in order to concentrate high volumes of water for trace analyses and stable carbon isotope measurements of volatile halogenated organic compounds (VHOCs) in seawater. The P&T parameters were evaluated regarding quality parameters, extraction efficiency and isotope fractionation. Precision (about 20%), linearity (>0.9676), and recoveries (between 75% and 99%) were reasonable within the large concentration range tested. Isotope fractionation was between 1 per thousand and 3 per thousand. Finally, the developed system was successfully applied to the quantitative and stable carbon isotope analysis of three water samples of different origin.