CTEH^® is pleased to announce that we now offer the INFICON HAPSITE^® portable gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) to analyze volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air, soil and water. The HAPSITE^® is a robust field portable GC/MS that can be used on-site to identify VOCs, significantly reducing the cost, time, and difficulties of environmental testing. This instrument is ideal for source testing, hazardous-waste site investigations, and emergency response projects. It is used to characterize unknown contaminants, such as odors, combustion by-products, and volatile liquids and solids. It can be used to analyze the compounds on the EPA TO-15 and 8260 analyte lists. The HAPSITE^® is designed for site investigation, characterization, and remediation of hundreds of VOCs in soil, water, and air. The GC/MS has a global position system (GPS) on-board which geo-references sampling data as it is acquired, which allow maps to be generated in near real-time.

CTEH^® has used the HAPSITE^® to perform air monitoring for diesel exhaust emissions and to identify unknown chemical residues. Using the HAPSITE^®, CTEH^® was able to identify the VOCs at each of these projects, and even ruled out a possible bioterrorism act by identifying an unknown odor as a petroleum based product. Other uses of the HAPSITE^® include:

Indoor Air Quality

CTEH^® uses the HAPSITE^® for indoor air quality studies (IAQ). An alternative to finding and collecting mold samples and waiting for lab analysis, is to directly measure the microbial VOCs (MVOCs) in air. MVOCs may cause severe health problems in children and adults. The HAPSITE^® can be used to detect and identify odors from MVOCs and to identify possible sources, such as inner wall spaces, under carpets, and above ceilings. CTEH^® has a team of Ph.D. toxicologists that can assess the real and perceived risk of MVOCs.

Arson Investigations

The HAPSITE^® is ideally suited to for arson investigations. Accelerants used to start a fire leave behind VOCs that can be used for identification. Although a fire can reach extremely high temperatures, accelerants leave residual compounds in the charred remnants of carpets, wood, and furniture that can later be detected using the HAPSITE^®. The HAPSITE^® is capable of performing the same arson analyses that are recommended by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) 1618-94: “Standard Guide for Ignitable Liquid Residues in Extracts from Fire Debris Samples by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.”