The recent Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles left nearby residents worried about lingering volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their air and soil. To address these concerns, researchers at UCLA’s Molecular Instrumentation Center (MIC) are using a new demonstration instrument—a Syft Tracer i3—to measure these VOCs in the surrounding areas.
Early results from indoor and outdoor air sampling show VOC levels in homes close to the Eaton fire burn area are similar to those in homes farther away (Studio City); however, elevated levels of certain harmful compounds like formaldehyde and benzene were detected when compared to outdoor air. Meanwhile, soil samples from burn-adjacent regions revealed higher concentrations of benzene, xylene, and ethylfuran, highlighting the potential for lingering contamination.
A Syft Tracer i3 instrument was installed in November 2024 in the MIC Facility for demonstrations and collaborative projects between UCLA and Syft Technologies. This instrument allows for both the analysis of whole air samples, and for headspace samples. The Tracer is a selected ion flow tube mass spectrometer (SIFT-MS), which combines precise chemical ionization with mass spectrometric detection to rapidly measure VOCs in real time. It works by using known ion-molecule reaction rate constants between specific reagent ions (H3O⁺, NO⁺, and O₂⁺ are the most common) and the target VOCs. These reagent ions react selectively with trace VOCs in air, yet remain unreactive with other major components. A quadrupole upstream of the sample introduction stage allows researchers to switch between reagent ions on a millisecond timescale, effectively separating analytes by their distinct reaction chemistries. This eliminates the need for gas chromatographic separation, speeding up sample throughput and enabling immediate, highly selective VOC quantification.
Another early project on the Tracer includes the monitoring of VOC formation in a sealed spacecraft chamber containing human waste. Future plans for the Tracer include some collaborative projects with environmental and atmospheric chemists within UCLA, and continuous sample analysis of the air and soil samples surrounding the fires over time in collaboration with graduate students and the MIC at UCLA. Dr. Greg Khitrov has been assisting in overseeing some of this research and providing advice when needed.
Residents surrounding the burn areas have mounting questions about the safety of returning home, sending their children to school, and whether it’s safe to garden or play in their yards. They are also seeking information about how cleanup efforts might release toxic VOCs into the surrounding community. Because SIFT-MS simplifies both sample collection and real-time analysis, it was an ideal instrument for quickly gauging post-containment air quality and safety. Air samples are easily collected into Tedlar bags using a small sampling pump from homes or ambient air and analyzed directly by SIFT-MS, while soil samples can be collected in jars and transferred into headspace vials for analysis, without additional sample preparation.
Professor Joseph Loo, a biochemistry and analytical chemistry faculty member in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, is impressed with the capabilities of the Syft instrument. “It’s truly impressive for me to see how easy it is to use this specialized mass spectrometry. Using the Tracer to determine how long these VOCs remain in the environment post-containment, and to learn if they are released during the remediation efforts should be highly useful to the local residents and the greater Los Angeles community.”
For more information, contact Dr. Ignacio Martini, matatu@g.ucla.edu. If you would like to support UCLA’s Molecular Instrumentation Center, please contact chair@chem.ucla.edu.
