Headspace Gas Chromatography Methods and their Potential Industrial Applications

This article reviews the most recent and significant advances in headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC). The evolution and potential industrial applications in the last five years (2008 to present) are reviewed and discussed. The topics include a brief overview of the recent advances in HS-GC techniques and theory, followed by examples of new applications and instrumentation for the different headspace analysis techniques. The three main techniques of headspace sampling such as static, dynamic, and solid-phase microextraction (SPME) are described and a discussion of their advantages and limitations is included. Different designs of headspace devices, coupled techniques and chemometric data treatments used in HS-GC analysis are also briefly described. The potential industrial applications include environmental, clinical, materials, biological, food, flavour and pharmaceutical analysis. This report clearly illustrates that research in HS-GC is very active and growing, with new applications being reported regularly.