Ion-trap detection of volatile organic compounds in alveolar breath.

We describe a method for the collection and microanalysis of the volatile organic compounds in human breath. A transportable apparatus supplies subjects with purified air and samples their alveolar breath; the volatile organic compounds are captured in an adsorptive trap containing activated carbon and molecular sieve. The sample is thermally desorbed from the trap in an automated microprocessor-controlled device, concentrated by two-stage cryofocusing, and assayed by gas chromatography with ion-trap detection. Compounds are identified by reference to a computer-based library of mass spectra with subtraction of the background components present in the inspired air. We used this device to study 10 normal subjects and determined the relative abundance of the volatile organic compounds in their alveolar breath. The breath-collecting apparatus was convenient to operate and was well tolerated by human volunteers.