{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T03:29:02Z","timestamp":1760239742127,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,28]],"date-time":"2020-12-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1609113600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007707","name":"Istituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione Contro Gli Infortuni sul Lavoro","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BRIC 2016 ID12"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BRIC 2016 ID12"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007707","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) are an important part of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to be detected and monitored in the air, due to their toxicity towards human health. One of the most reliable technique used in BTX detection is gas chromatography (GC), which presents a high sensitivity. On the other hand, it has important drawbacks, such as high costs, the need for qualified personnel and frequent maintenance. To overcome these drawbacks, this work reports the development of a low cost and portable BTX gas detection system based on a mini chromatographic cartridge, a photo ionization detector (PID), a simple control unit (based on Arduino architecture) and a mini pump. In order to separate the BTX components, we propose the use of a cartridge 80 mm in length, composed of several commercial chromatographic column sections. To test the system performances, we have injected different amounts (from about 0.3 to 5.3 \u00b5g) of benzene, toluene and xylene and two of the most frequent possible interferents (ethanol, acetone). Experimental results have shown different retention time values (i.e., 25 \u00b1 0.5 s, 51 \u00b1 1.2 s and 117 \u00b1 4 s, respectively) for benzene, toluene and xylene.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21010125","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,28]],"date-time":"2020-12-28T10:33:56Z","timestamp":1609151636000},"page":"125","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Low-Cost Benzene Toluene Xylene Measurement Gas System Based on the Mini Chromatographic Cartridge"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4344-5547","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emiliano","family":"Zampetti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Papa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3758-986X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joshua","family":"Avossa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7513-6581","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Bearzotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy"}]},{"given":"Catia","family":"Balducci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8973-6046","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanna","family":"Tranfo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), via Fontana Candida 1, Monte Porzio Catone, 00078 Rome, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6015-4832","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonella","family":"Macagnano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research\u2013National Research Council (IIA-CNR), Research Area of Rome 1, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"WHO (2010). 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