Journal of chromatography. A
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A screening tool was proposed for the rapid detection of eight priority volatile organic pollutants according to European standards in drinking water. The method is based on the direct coupling of a headspace sampler with a mass spectrometer, using a chromatographic column heated to 175 degrees C as an interface. ⋯ An appropriate chemometric treatment of these signals permitted them to be classified, on the basis of their volatile composition, as contaminated or uncontaminated with respect to the legally established concentration levels for these compounds in drinking water, and providing no false negatives. A conventional confirmation method was carried out to analyze positive water samples by using the same instrumental setup as in the screening method, but using an appropriate temperature program in the chromatographic column to separate, identify and quantify each analyte.