True Peak Capacity Increase GCxGC for Mega Multi-Analyte Methods and Emerging Pollutants of Concern

Modern environmental and food‑safety laboratories are increasingly challenged by mega multi‑analyte methods—methods that must detect hundreds of contaminants across diverse chemical classes, often at ultra‑trace levels and within highly complex matrices. In this on‑demand webinar, Jack Cochran, a recognized expert in GC and GCxGC method development, demonstrates how true peak‑capacity‑increased GCxGC coupled with time‑of‑flight mass spectrometry (TOF‑MS) overcomes these analytical limitations.

The presentation introduces the concept of “true peak capacity increase” GCxGC, showing how careful optimization of first‑dimension separations—rather than intentionally compromising them—delivers dramatic gains in chromatographic resolving power. By pairing long, efficiently operated primary columns with orthogonal secondary columns and fast TOF‑MS detection, GCxGC provides both superior separation and enhanced detectability for trace‑level contaminants.

Using real‑world case studies, the webinar explores two challenging application spaces. The first focuses on petroleum biomarker fingerprinting, including crude oil and tar ball samples linked to the Deepwater Horizon spill, illustrating how GCxGC preserves subtle first‑dimension separations while eliminating isobaric interferences. The second application examines emerging pollutants in the Las Vegas Wash—an urban waterway feeding into Lake Mead—revealing pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, flame retardants, and disinfection byproducts at concentrations ranging from nanograms per liter down to sub‑parts‑per‑trillion.

Throughout the webinar, Cochran highlights how GCxGC chromatographic structure, library searchable TOF spectra, and full‑spectrum data archiving enable confident qualitative discovery alongside targeted quantitative analysis of hundreds of analytes in a single run. The result is a powerful workflow for environmental monitoring, forensic investigations, food safety, and other high‑complexity analytical challenges.

Presented 24 September 2012.