Determination of polychlorinated biphenyls in biotic matrices using gas chromatography-microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Basic parameters associated with practical application of gas chromatography coupled with microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectrometric detection GC-MIP-AED in the determination of seven “indicator” polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in biotic matrices were evaluated. The detection limit for chlorine (Cl-479) was found to be 0.54 pg/s. Under the conditions used for sample analysis (1 μl of purified extract injected into the GC-MIP-AED system represented 2.5 mg of original fat), this value corresponded approximately to 0.15 mg/kg of the respective congeners in fat. The detector response was linear within the tested range of 0.5–10 ng of each injected PCB. The relative standard deviation of repeated injections for the lowest concentration level of 0.5 ng of PCB per injection ranged between 10.5 and 34.4% depending on the chlorine content of the individual analytes. The results demonstrate a high selectivity of chlorine detection. Carbon (C-496) chromatograms recorded simultaneously demonstrated the efficiency of the clean-up step used. Quantitative results (analytes at levels of 0.1–1 mg/kg obtained with the atomic emission detector did not differ significantly from those recorded with a conventional electron-capture detector.