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The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS)

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For the latest ASMS information, visit the ASMS Home Page.

What is ASMS?

The American Society of Mass Spectrometry is the backbone organization of mass spectrometer users throughout the world. The purpose of the organization is to promote and disseminate knowledge about mass spectrometry and allied topics. Membership includes over 3,500 scientists from academic, industrial and governmental laboratories. Their disciplines include chemistry, geology, biological sciences, environmental sciences, forensic science, food science and physics. A meeting is held once a year in the United States at which papers and posters are presented by the members in all areas relating to mass spectrometry. In addition they publish the ASMS journal entitled "The Journal of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry" through Elsevier.


Topical Seminars at ASMS through the years

Applications of Thermal Desorption - Volatile and Semi-Volatile Analysis in Air by Stuart Batterman, University of Michigan

Air sampling using sorbents, thermal desorption, and gas chromatography is a versatile method for identifying and quantifying trace levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Points to be discussed include the appropriate choices of sorbents and method parameters in order to accommodate a wide range of compounds and high humidity. The advantages of an automated short-path system for minimizing artifacts, losses, and carry-over effects are illustrated. As examples, results will be presented that demonstrate the performance of a thermal desorption method for 77 VOCs using laboratory and field tests and a dual sorbent system (Tenax® GR, Carbosieve SIII). Laboratory tests showed that the method requirements for ambient air sampling were easily achieved for most compounds, e.g., using the average and standard deviation across target compounds, blank emissions were ?0.3 ng/sorbent tube for all target compounds except benzene, toluene and phenol; the method detection limit was 0.05 ±0.08 ppb, reproducibility was 12 ±6%, linearity as the relative standard deviation of relative response factors was 16 ±9%, desorption efficiency was 99 ±28%, samples stored for 1 to 6 weeks had recoveries of 86 ±9%, and high humidity samples had recoveries of 102 ±11%. Due to sorbent, column and MSD characteristics, performance was somewhat poorer for phenol groups, ketones, and nitrogen containing compounds. The laboratory results were confirmed in an analysis of replicate samples collected in two field studies that sampled ambient air along roadways and indoor air in a large office building. Replicates collected under field conditions demonstrated good agreement except at very low concentrations or for large (> 4 l volume) samples of high humidity air. Overall, the method provides excellent performance and satisfactory throughput for many applications.

How AMDIS Could Have Saved My Sister's Marriage by O. David Sparkman

AMDIS attempts to reconstruct original mass spectra for individual components in arbitrarily complex GC/MS and LC/MS reconstructed total ion current (RTIC) chromatograms and, if a target library is provided, AMDIS can directly identify target compounds. AMDIS is especially useful when an RTIC chromatographic peak represents multiple components. Regardless of each component's concentration, pure mass spectra are deconvoluted for analysis. 

AMDIS has been designed to reconstruct "pure component" spectra from complex RTIC chromatograms even when components are present at trace levels. For this purpose, observed chromatographic behavior is used along with a range of noise-reduction methods. AMDIS is distributed with specialized libraries (environmental, flavor and fragrance, and drugs and toxins), that were derived from the NIST98 Library. AMDIS has a range of other features, including the ability to search the entire NIST98 Library with any of the spectra extracted from the original data file. It can also employ retention index windows when identifying target compounds and can make use of internal and external standards maintained in separate libraries. A history list of selected performance standards is also maintained.

LC/MS Fundamentals and Applications by Mike Lee, Milestone Development Services

Abstract: The combination of high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has had a significant impact on industrial applications over the past decade. Continual improvements in LC/MS interface technologies combined with powerful features for structure analysis, qualitative and quantitative, have resulted in a widened scope of application. An iterative cycle of "what is it?" and "how much is there?" continues to fuel the tremendous growth of LC/MS. This talk will review the fundamentals of LC/MS and provide perspective on strategies for method development. Current applications of LC/MS technologies and emerging industry trends will also be discussed .