Determination of Volatile Sulfur Compounds in Seawater and Atmosphere

Volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in the marine environment has significant implications for global climate change. In the present study, a gas chromatographic analytical method was set up to determine the concentrations of VSCs in seawater and atmosphere, and the optimized experimental conditions were established. For the analysis of VSCs in atmosphere, multistage traps and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC. MS) were used, with the precisions of 7. 7% - 15. 1% and the detection limits of 0. 23-4. 7 ng. Moreover, for the analyses of VSCs in seawater, pre-concentration and gas chromatography coupled with flame photometric detector (GC. FPD) were utilized, with the precisions of 3. 5% - 5. 3% and the detection limits of 2. 5-3. 5 ng. This method was applied to analyze the VSCs in Qingdao coastal seawater and atmosphere, and the average concentrations of carbonyl sulfide, dimethyl sulfide and carbon disulfide in the seawater were (268 +/- 58), (1264 +/- 278), (19 +/- 2) pmol/L, and (543 +/- 39), (29 +/- 9), (56 +/- 20) (x10(-12), V/V) in the atmosphere, respectively.