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‰ and 3‰. Finally, the developed system was successfully applied to the quantitative and stable carbon isotope analysis of three water samples of different origin.