Determination of polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, chlorobenzenes in sludge and sediment samples by GC x GC-μECD

Gas chromatographic separation and identification of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCs) and chlorobenzenes (CBz) is one of the most common analyses performed by environmental laboratories. When using comprehensive two dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) coupled with micro-electron capture detector (mu-ECD), within- and between-compound class separations for the target contaminants were achieved in a relatively short analysis time. With only few coelutions present, the results showed that DB-1 x Rtx-PCB is a powerful column combination providing excellent chromatographic separation for PCBs/OCs/CBz standard mix. Reference materials and 'real-life' sediments and sludges were analysed and the analytes were quantified in these samples. The results were compared to reference values and classical GC-ECD data where available. This method was shown to be precise and accurate for the standards/reference materials tested and is a feasible method for sediment and sludge sample analysis.