ABSTRACT
A number of organic substances that are found in the environmental matrices or released into the environment from various industrial processes are referred to as “volatile compounds” for their relatively low boiling points and high vapor pressures. ere, however, are no de nitive criteria to de ne the boiling point or the vapor pressure range of such substances. e term “volatile” compounds includes a wide range of substances that may be gases at ordinary temperatures, such as methyl chloride or liquids like carbon tetrachloride with a boiling point greater than that of water. Under this general term, we may include any substance that can be purged out of water under a ow of a purging gas, or likewise thermally desorbed out from the sample matrices when heated under a carrier gas. e term “volatile organic compounds” in general applies to the sample extraction technique. Several methods may be found in the literature for analyzing such volatile organic compounds in aqueous and nonaqueous matrices (U.S. EPA, 1986, 1992, 1999; Patnaik, 2004; APHA, AWWA, and WEF, 2005; NIOSH, 1994). Such extraction techniques may vary with the sample matrices. Compounds are mostly detected by gas chromatography using a suitable GC detector or by a mass spectrometer.
