Markes International (Llantrisant, UK), a world leader in instrumentation for trace organic analysis, has announced the launch of a Humidifier Accessory, which extends the capability of their Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor™ by supplying it with humidified air or gas.

Markes’ Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor has gained popularity over recent years as a versatile tool for rapidly sampling volatile organic vapours released from everyday products such as toys, car trim and construction materials, or odour profiles from foods and cosmetics.

Now the capability of the Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor has been further extended by the release of the Humidifier Accessory, which supplies the Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor with air or gas at up to 50% relative humidity.

Dr Caroline Widdowson, Material Emissions Applications Specialist at Markes, said “The availability of a regulated supply of humidified air or gas means that chemical emission profiles can now be obtained under conditions that are a better match for real-life scenarios. This is important because the rate of release of some compounds is significantly affected by humidity.”

The Humidifier Accessory will be particularly useful to Markes’ customers who have been using the Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor for routine quality control of product emission levels in manufacturing or R&D.

Dr Widdowson explains “Standard reference tests, used for certifying product emission levels, use humidified air and may take up to a month. Many Markes’ customers use their Micro-Chamber as an alternative tool for quick in-house screening, and the new Humidifier Accessory will help them get results that correlate even more closely with those from reference tests.”

The Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor, which operates on the principle of dynamic headspace sampling, is a compact stand-alone unit that is widely employed for the screening of chemical emissions from products and materials – especially those that are used in buildings and vehicles. The instrument’s versatility, speed and ease of use means that it has been adopted as a QC or R&D tool across numerous industries, from consumer product testing to food analysis and odour profiling. The Humidifier Accessory is the latest in a line of product releases from Markes, which has a track record of developing innovative solutions to help customers improve their analyses.

Markes is renowned as a global market leader for analytical thermal desorption and for developing ground-breaking time-of-flight MS technology for gas chromatography. Markes became part of the Mulheim-based German family business Schauenburg International Group, and has technical support centres in the UK, USA and Germany.

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