COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR THE GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION OF PCB CONGENERS AND CHLORINATED PESTICIDES IN MARINE REFERENCE MATERIALS

Three gas-chromatographic (GC) columns with different selectivity (DB- 5, DB-1701, and C-18) and two different GC detectors (electron-capture and mass-spectrometric) were used to analyze three Standard Reference Materials (SRMs), which are available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and two Certified Reference Materials (CRMs), which are available from the Community Bureau of Reference (B CR), for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and chlorinated pest icides. The materials analyzed were: SRM 1588, Organics in Cod Liver O il; SRM 1941, Organics in Marine Sediment; SRM 1974, Organics in Musse l Tissue (Mytilus edulis); CRM 349, Chlorobiphenyls in Cod Liver Oil; and CRM 350, Chlorobiphenyls in Mackerel Oil. Results from these diffe rent methods are compared, and concentrations for additional PCB conge ners and chlorinated pesticides in these reference materials, which ha ve not been measured previously, are reported.