Volatile Organic Compounds in Other Environments

Instruments that can identity and quantify trace levels of VOCs have many potentially important applications beyond atmospheric science. For example, VOC emissions from foods and drinks are critical in our perception of their taste and smell. Food manufacturers are keen to understand the factors that contribute to flavour perception, and correlating VOC measurements with human trials of sensory perception is an important way of doing this. VOC emissions from foods and drinks can also be an indicator of quality. In particular, the onset of serious degradation may be characterized by the excessive emission of one or more VOCs, and these marker compounds therefore offer the key to an automated indication of food and drink decay. This is an area of investigation that is still very much in its infancy, but which may have very considerable implications for the food and drinks industries. 

The above list of applications is by no means complete, and there are many other areas of science and technology that might benefit from rapid and sensitive VOC measurements, such as botany, forensic science and security screening. Some of these topics are considered in detail in the later chapters of this book (Chapters 5-9). In this short overview, we hope to 

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