Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #426615
Research Project: Strategies to Manage Feed Nutrients, Reduce Gas Emissions, and Promote Soil Health for Beef and Dairy Cattle Production Systems of the Southern Great Plains

Location: Livestock Nutrient Management Research

Title: Green sampling of gas-phase volatile organic compounds using time-weighted average solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry: A critical review

Author
item HADDADI, SHOKOUH - State University Of New York (SUNY)
item Koziel, Jacek
item KENESSOV, BULAT - Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

Submitted to: Green Analytical Chemistry
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/30/2025
Publication Date: 10/10/2025
Citation: Haddadi, S., Koziel, J.A., Kenessov, B. 2025. Green sampling of gas-phase volatile organic compounds using time-weighted average solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry: A critical review. Green Analytical Chemistry. 15. Article 100302. Available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.greeac.2025.100302.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.greeac.2025.100302

Interpretive Summary: Clean air is essential for life. Air quality monitoring is needed to protect human health from toxic air pollutants. A large group of air pollutants of concern to the public are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs originate from common household cleaning products, furniture, building materials, transportation, and many industrial processes. Measurements of VOCs in the air can be very expensive and require sophisticated equipment. A measurement technology called solid-phase microextraction (SPME) emerges as a simpler and environmentally friendly alternative to standard air sampling methods. Researchers from USDA ARS (Bushland, Texas), University of Oswego (New York), and Kazakh National University reviewed and summarized current knowledge on the use of SPME for VOC sampling in air and provided practical user recommendations based on multiple studies and experiences.

Technical Abstract: Time-weighted average solid-phase microextraction (TWA-SPME) is a solvent-free passive sampling technique increasingly applied to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) monitoring in air. This review critically examines the theoretical foundations of TWA-SPME based on Fick’s laws of diffusion, highlights optimization of SPME coating, diffusion path length, and sampling duration, and compares quantification strategies based on both theoretical modeling and empirical calibration. Applications across ambient and indoor air, vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and clinical environments demonstrate their versatility and sensitivity relative to conventional sorbent-based methods. A greenness evaluation using the AGREEprep tool confirmed strong TWA-SPME alignment with green sampling preparation principles, particularly through elimination of solvents, low waste, and high operator safety. Challenges such as adsorption on metallic components and coating saturation are discussed alongside mitigation strategies and device refinements. Emerging designs and simulation-based models improve performance predictability and sampling efficiency under diverse environmental conditions. Comparisons with emerging alternatives such as thin-film SPME and needle trap devices highlight the unique advantages of TWA-SPME in robustness, simplicity, and reproducibility. Overall, TWA-SPME represents an environmentally friendly, accurate, and practical approach to VOC sampling, with growing relevance in environmental monitoring and occupational exposure assessments.