PCB surrogate standards to evaluate recoveries of mono-ortho substituted PCBs and congener PCBs through a carbon fractionation procedure

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:242360

Echols, K; Meadows, J ^[1]

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1. National Biological Service, Columbia, MO (United States). Midwest Science Center

The use of {sup 14}C spiked internal/recovery standards for analysis of non-ortho PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs has become standard methodology. These standards allow for accurate quantitation and recovery of non-ortho PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs by mass spectrometric determination. However, good internal standards for bulk congener PCBs and mono-ortho PCBs have been problematic because of the complexity of capillary GC/ECD analysis. Of 209 congeners over a hundred are found in technical mixtures and can typically be found in environmental samples. Many potential internal standards have interferences even when analyzed by high resolution capillary GC. The authors have used 2,4,6-trichlorobiphenyl (IUPAC 030) as a procedural recovery standard, but through complicated extraction and cleanup methods they have seen low or inconsistent recoveries because of its volatility. Also, because congener 030 comes out in the first carbon fraction, it does not allow evaluation of the recovery of mono-ortho PCBs in the second fraction off of the carbon system. Therefore, the authors evaluated several PCB congeners not found in commercial mixtures, or in various environmental samples, and which were chromatographically resolved by capillary GC using DB{trademark}-5 and/or DB{trademark}-I phase columns. The congeners evaluated were 2,2{prime},4,4{prime}6,6{prime}-hexachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC 155), and 2,2{prime},3,4,4{prime},5,6,6{prime}-octachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC 204) as a marker in the first fraction, and congeners 2{prime},3,4,5,5{prime}-pentachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC 124), and 2,3,3{prime},4{prime}, 5,5{prime}-hexachlorobiphenyl (IUPAC 162) as mono-ortho recovery markers. Recoveries of the mono-ortho PCB compounds, 124 and 162, averaged 66% and 77% in spiked fish tissue. Recoveries of PCBs 030, 155 and 204 were 72%, 79% and 82% respectively. These PCBs were used fish tissue, bird egg, and sediment samples.

• OSTI ID: 242360
• Report Number(s): CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
BIRDS
FISHES
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
MATERIALS RECOVERY
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
REMEDIAL ACTION
SAMPLING
SEDIMENTS