A broad range of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) can be detected with a GC-MS-analysis, e.g.: hydrocarbons (aromatic, aliphatic, cyclic), alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, ethers, furans, organic acids, organic sulphur compounds (dimethylsulphide, dimethyldisulphide, …, thiols), chlorinated compounds, nitrogen containing compounds (amines, nitriles, pyridine), etc.…
The detectable compounds generally have a molecular mass in the range between 30 and 200/300. Detection also depends on volatility (vapour pressure/boiling point) of the compound. Compounds which are extremely volatile (e.g. methane, ethylene, …) will not be detected, since these are not retained on the adsorption tubes. Other factors influencing the detectability are among others the stability of the compound during sampling and analysis and the weight of the molecular fragments (detection starts at a mass of m/z=30, hence lighter fragments are not detected).
Following compounds cannot be detected: