Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Markes International Limited announced a strategic alliance for global distribution and market development of analytical thermal desorption (TD) instruments used with gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems. Analytical TD is used to capture and detect trace levels of volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals in a wide variety of samples. Applications include: chemical warfare agents, environmental pollutants, emissions from materials, food analysis, flavours and fragrances. Under the agreement, Markes TD systems and accessories are available globally as original equipment manufacturer items through the Agilent sales force and supported by the Agilent service organization. Additionally, the two companies have agreed to collaborative development and promotion of TD-GC and TD-GC/MS applications.