Inhalants(toluene) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Inhalants(toluene) - Research Paper Example Toluene can be difficult to identify especially without any chemical tests since it smells like most other hydrocarbons and most people might pass it for any ordinary hydrocarbon. Like other hydrocarbons, toluene is soluble in organic solvents and does not dissolve in any polar solvent such as water. Therefore, to test its presence using chromatography, t has to be dissolved in an inorganic solvent. This way, it can be able to be separated by chromatography. This allows it to be tested from other substances including blood to check if someone has inhaled it. This is a physical separation technique for separating volatile mixtures. It is practiced in areas such as pharmaceuticals, environmental conservation and cosmetics. Due to their volatility, human breath, secretions, and other body fluids can be analyzed using this technique. It can also analyze air samples for various compounds. This is one of the analytical methods that are used to test toluene. This technique came up in early 60s. Among the various forms of GC, gas-liquid chromatography is the most popular method. Combined with techniques such as mass spectrometry, it becomes invaluable to separation and identification of molecules. This technique has been applied in the separation of toluene from other compounds for a very long time. Various kinds of detectors can be used to separate toluene and the other components in the substance. They include flame ionization detector, thermal conductivity detector and electron capture detector. Factors influencing the separation process include the stationary phase’s polarity. The polar compounds have strong interactions during this phase. This causes polar compounds to have a longer retention times than their non-polar counterparts. The temperature also affects the process by reducing the retention time. Chromatographic detectors react differently to each compound. To