Practical Introduction to GC-MS Analysis with Quadrupoles

The basics of modern, compact GC--MS systems have barely changed during the last 20 years. Ion sources still become contaminated and have to be cleaned. Leaks occur and, as ever, the gas chromatograph is the most frequent source of troubles. A new and more worrisome trend, however, is that the manuals are becoming shorter and shorter. Unfortunately also the knowledge of the service staff seems to decrease. Experts with years of experience are increasingly difficult to find. This book aims to compensate this by giving answers to questions such as: How does my mass spectrometer work? What types of fault can show up and how do I detect them? How must separation and detection be adapted to each other? Which pitfalls can be avoided when elucidating structures and quantifying compounds? This book is intended to help newcomers from making their first steps into this rather complex technique to the development of highly demanding methods for trace analysis. Advanced users also find much practical advice which will help to improve their work.