SYSTEM AND METHOD OF GAS SAMPLING FOR TRACE-LEVEL ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS

A hybrid gas sampling device can combine the functionality of both whole air and sorbent based samplers. The sampling device can be used for collecting light to very heavy organic compounds, for subsequent thermal desorption into a GC or GCMS for quantitative measurement. The sampling device isolates collected samples of gas phase matrices in a sample vessel, provided with sorbent elements from a removable sample extraction device. The sampling device is operated by drawing a vacuum on the chamber through the sample extraction device after sampling, and then completing the extraction of the heavier organic compounds using a static, diffusive extraction under vacuum to allow optimal deposition of the heavier compounds on the sorbent. The vacuum container is cooled to draw any excess water back into the container, thereby dehydrating attached sorbent element(s) in preparation for thermal desorption into a GC or GCMS, eliminating interferences in the MS analyzer.