Geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) are taste and odor compounds that contribute to musty or earthy odors in drinking water. Although they are not believed to be health hazards, because they affect water quality they need to be removed from drinking water. Because humans can detect these compounds in drinking water at very low concentrations, analytical methods must provide excellent sensitivity and specificity to reliably analyze for these compounds.

This application details the use of the Thermo Scientific TriPlus™ Autosampler equipped with a solid phase microextration (SPME) option*. SPME was used for sample preparation in conjunction with GC/MS analysis using the Thermo Scientific DSQ™ II single quadrupole GC/MS system. Average detection limits of < 0.3 ppt were achieved, with excellent sensitivity and linearity.