202 

 m/z 87 ion corresponding to H, elimination from lactate with subsequent loss of CO, 



to form the m/z 43 ion. 



The examples described in this section were successful in terms of determining 



the compounds present. The intended use of the MS/MS neutral loss scans is to 



provide information about compound classes present. The manner in which this will 



be presented for this dissertation is by determining the GC peaks observed for a 



particular neutral loss. The frequency of relatively intense GC peaks is reported; 



however, overlap exists between compound classes due to similar neutral losses for 



certain classes. The results are listed in table 4-4, arranged by frequency of GC 



peaks in each neutral loss spectrum, as well as attributing the loss to possible 



compound classes. If experiments were not conducted for a particular neutral loss, 



such is listed in the table. 



Conclusions 



The use of tandem mass spectrometry allowed for the identification, without 

 GC separation, of highly volatile compounds desorbed from handled glass beads. 

 This method did not allow for further identification of less volatile components due 

 to poor temporal resolution from the sampling system as well as the inefficient 

 removal of volatilized compounds from the sample apparatus. Sixteen compounds 

 were identified using this method; most of these have been confirmed in the 

 literature and/or by experiments in the next chapter. 



