In a survey of GC users conducted in 1998 by LC-GC International, almost 70% of the respondents identified contamination, poor resolution (interpreted as decreasing resolution due to stationary phase degradation), stationary phase bleed, and ghost peaks as their most common GC column problems. All of these problems can be caused or aggravated by impurities in the carrier and detector gases.

Because the BIP cylinder consistently delivers gas containing less than 10 ppb oxygen and less than 20 ppb water, it can enhance analytical performance by maintaining peak resolution, improving detector sensitivity, decreasing baseline rise, and producing an artifact-free baseline. Sometimes these improvements are more incremental than dramatic, since there are many potential contributors to contamination of the carrier gas flowing through a GC column. But BIP gases allow you to make even small improvements in your analytical system and reap the benefits over time.