MULTIDIMENSIONAL CAPILLARY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL MARKER COMPOUNDS

Multidimensional chromatography was used to resolve the specific chlor obiphenyl (CB) congeners 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180 in techni cal aroclor standards, Single column analysis of polychlorinated biphe nyls (PCBs) results in co-elution of key congeners with other componen ts in the mixture; therefore using two columns of different selectivit y was necessary to enhance the resolution achievable on just one colum n. The HT8 column (8% phenylpolycarborane-siloxane phase) has been rep orted to have specific selectivity characteristics for improved PCB se paration. When coupled with a BPX5 column (5% phenylpolysiloxane-silph enylene phase), it has been shown here to provide unambiguous identifi cation of 7 marker compounds which are used to monitor PCB occurrence and distribution. All seven marker CBs are present in aroclor 1254, an d by adjusting the size of the heartcut window, it was possible to obt ain resolution of the marker congeners from other congeners, Single co lumn analysis is unable to achieve this result. This offers an alterna tive to GC-MS analysis.