A RAPID METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF AROCLOR-1260 IN CATTLE ADIPOSE-TISSUE

A simple analytical procedure for the determination of Aroclor 1260 in cattle adipose tissue is described. The polychlorinated biphenyls res idues are extracted from the tissue using a soxhlet extractor and the extracts are cleaned up using a florisil SEP-PAK cartridge. The residu es are detected using a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron ca pture detector. The effect of extraction time of the Aroclor 1260 resi dues from the tissue has been investigated and a period of four hours is found to give satisfactory percent recoveries. Greater than 85 perc ent recoveries were obtained from adipose tissue spiked with Aroclor 1 260. The method can be used to detect Aroclor 1260 residue levels as l ow as 0.10 parts per million. The method was used to analyze thirty-on e cattle adipose tissue samples out of which twenty-six samples were t aken from cattle suspected of exposure to a pasture containing electri cal transformers and capacitors containing Aroclor 1260. Five control samples were collected from cattle with no known exposure. AU twenty-s ix samples were found to contain non-detectable Aroclor 1260 residues.