Instrumental considerations Matisova and Domotorova 74] th eir review article on fast GC include a very detailed discussion on instrumentation. They point out that modern conventional gas chromatographs can be used for conventional and fast GC and GC/MS, but dedicated gas chromatographs are often required for very fast and ultra fast GC. These instruments should be equipped with the ability to maintain high carrier gas pressures necessary for microcapilary columns, addi- tional safety features to handle hydrogen camer gas, injectors that can allow accurate control of very high split ratios, and ovens that can be accurately temperature programmed at faster rates than conventional gas chromatographs. For the fastest separations, the spectral acquisition rates of quadrupole ion trap (Qm and transmission q mass spectrometers are too low. Time-of-