Hi there
I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on the capabilities of a Mass Spec Detector (possibly the PE Turbomass). We have a wide range of methods and I wondered if Mass Spec could handle the following.

Low levels (1mg/L approx) of active pharmacutical ingredients in Methanol.
Trace VOC levels (ug/L) in water by direct injection (we do not have purge and trap or headspace).
Atmospheric VOC's Wide concentration range (1 mg/M3 to 2500 mg/M3) and wide analyte range (Methanol to Monochlorobenzene and 20 others in between).
As our budget will not stretch too far (all to familiar story I am sure) we need to be fairly sure that a GC/MS using direct injection would be capable of all the above.
I would greatly appreciate any advice. Feel free to e-mail direct.
Thanks in advance.
Sean

Even though you do not have purge and trap or headspace, the levels of the analytes you are trying to detect appear to suggest that static headspace could be your best option. You do not need a sophisticated instrument to perform this experiment. All you need is a working GC-MS and open teflon cap vials for sample equilibration and an air-tight syringe. This has worked tremendously for me and the results are quite outstanding most especially when dealing with solutions at extereme pH's. Feel free to contact me if you need further clarification, most especially on method optimization.