A gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) system for identifying an unknown sample, the GC-MS system comprising: a gas chromatograph configured to determine experimental chromatographic data for a calibration sample and an unknown sample, the experimental chromatographic data comprising a first retention time associated with the calibration sample and a second retention time associated with the unknown sample; an ion trap mass spectrometer configured to determine experimental mass spectral data for the unknown sample, wherein the ion trap mass spectrometer comprises a toroidal ion trap, the experimental mass spectral data comprising a mass spectrum associated with the unknown sample; a processor communicatively coupled with the gas chromatograph and the mass spectrometer for receiving the experimental chromatographic data and the experimental mass spectral data; and a memory having computer executable instructions stored thereon, the computer executable instructions configured for execution by the processor to: determine a retention index for the unknown sample based upon the first retention time associated with the calibration sample and the second retention time associated with the unknown sample, identify, using the retention index determined for the unknown sample, a subset of a plurality of database entries included in an electronic database comprising reference mass spectral data measured using a quadrupole mass spectrometer, compare the experimental mass spectral data to the subset of the plurality of database entries to identify the unknown sample; and initiate an alert when the identification of the unknown sample is associated with a sample of interest. a gas chromatograph configured to determine experimental chromatographic data for a calibration sample and an unknown sample, the experimental chromatographic data comprising a first retention time associated with the calibration sample and a second retention time associated with the unknown sample; an ion trap mass spectrometer configured to determine experimental mass spectral data for the unknown sample, wherein the ion trap mass spectrometer comprises a toroidal ion trap, the experimental mass spectral data comprising a mass spectrum associated with the unknown sample; a processor communicatively coupled with the gas chromatograph and the mass spectrometer for receiving the experimental chromatographic data and the experimental mass spectral data; and a memory having computer executable instructions stored thereon, the computer executable instructions configured for execution by the processor to: determine a retention index for the unknown sample based upon the first retention time associated with the calibration sample and the second retention time associated with the unknown sample, identify, using the retention index determined for the unknown sample, a subset of a plurality of database entries included in an electronic database comprising reference mass spectral data measured using a quadrupole mass spectrometer, compare the experimental mass spectral data to the subset of the plurality of database entries to identify the unknown sample; and initiate an alert when the identification of the unknown sample is associated with a sample of interest. determine a retention index for the unknown sample based upon the first retention time associated with the calibration sample and the second retention time associated with the unknown sample, identify, using the retention index determined for the unknown sample, a subset of a plurality of database entries included in an electronic database comprising reference mass spectral data measured using a quadrupole mass spectrometer, compare the experimental mass spectral data to the subset of the plurality of database entries to identify the unknown sample; and initiate an alert when the identification of the unknown sample is associated with a sample of interest.