A study into the parameters affecting selected reaction monitoring of 2,3,7,8-TCDD

The use of high resolution (10,000 resolving power) coupled gas chromatography - mass spectrometry is a well established technique in the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) but in the case of heavily contaminated stack samples interferences can still occur. A complementary technique that offers high specificity is selected reaction monitoring (SRM).A study has been made into the effects that affect the metastable dissociation of 2,3,7,8-TCDD in the first field free region (FFR1) of a magnetic sector mass spectrometer, and monitored using SRM.Monatomic, diatomic and polyatomic gases have been investigated in the collision chamber of the mass spectrometer, as have the effects of electron energy, source temperature and trap current on the dissociation, and optima conditions determined for them.