ELECTRON-CAPTURE DETECTION IN HIGH-SPEED NARROW-BORE CAPILLARY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY - FAST AND SENSITIVE ANALYSIS OF PCBS AND PESTICIDES

In this work the combination of high-speed narrow-bore capillary GC wi th electron capture detection is evaluated, The make-up gas flow rate is a key parameter in the successful coupling of narrow-bore columns a nd ECD detection, The make-up flow has to be as high as possible to el iminate peak tailing caused by the large detection cell volume. The se nsitivities at these elevated make-up flow rates (400 to 1000 ml/min), measured for some pesticides like HCB and dieldrin, were very good, D etection limits for these compounds of 0.1 pg were obtained, resulting in minimum detectable concentrations of approximately 0.2 ppb, The pe rformance of the system is illustrated by several high-speed analyses of environmentally relevant samples of PCBs and pesticides.