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Published on: June 8, 2011
Ion mobility spectrometry for detection of skin volatiles
Veronika Ruzsanyi1, Pawel Mochalski, Alex Schmid
1University Clinic for Anesthesia, Innsbruck Medical University, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Veronika.Ruzsanyi@i-med.ac.at
Abstract:
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by humans through their skin were investigated in near real time using ion mobility spectrometry after gas chromatographic separation with a short multi-capillary column. VOCs typically found in a small nitrogen flow covering the skin are 3-methyl-2-butenal, 6-methylhept-5-en-2-one, sec-butyl acetate, benzaldehyde, octanal, 2-ethylhexanol, nonanal and decanal at volume fractions in the low part per billion-(ppb) range. The technique presented here may contribute to elucidating some physiological processes occurring in the human skin.
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