Joanna Jóźwik is one of the beneficiaries of the competition for funding student and PhD candidates mobility within the HarSval project. She received 10000 PLN funding for the research trip: Training in non-directed qualitative analysis of persistent organic compounds in snow samples which took place at Vienna University of Technology.

Enjoy reading her report below:

“As part of the HarSval project, between 01.08 and 29.08.2024, I completed a training in non-targeted qualitative analysis allowing me to learn more about the occurrence of volatile organic compounds in
environmental samples. I participated in a research trip at one of the best environmental laboratories in Europe: the Technical University of Vienna, under the supervision of Professor Erwin Rosenberg.
During the internship, I worked with cutting-edge instrumental tools best suited for this type of analysis: gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and a two-dimensional gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrophotometer (GCxGC-MS). Both techniques are based on the use of mass spectra of the separated sample components due to the presence of a mass spectrometer.
The application of these techniques makes it possible to carry out non-targeted qualitative analysis, i.e. to identify which chemical compounds are present in the sample. Following that, a targeted analysis is
possible, for example of polycyclic aromatic compounds, which are widely present in the natural environment, since they are a product of combustion reactions (e.g. of gas, coal, waste or wood
combustion). They are also formed when one is using means of transport, for example a ship, a car or a snowmobile. This topic is relevant in terms of identifying possible sources of pollution in the Arctic, being part of the currently trending research topic of ‘Contaminants of Emerging Arctic Concern’.”