Detailed analysis of PCBs and PCDD/Fs impurities in a dielectric oil sample (ASKAREL Nr 1740) from an imported transformer in China

Homolog and congener profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) in commercial PCBs formulations are useful information for the source appointment of PCBs contamination as well as the risk assessment caused by potential exposure. Dielectric oil (ASKAREL Nr 1740) in an imported transformer found in China was sampled and analyzed by isotope dilution technology using high resolution gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The detailed homolog and congener profiles of PCBs obtained were compared with those of known Aroclor formulations. High similarity in the homolog profile between the oil sample and Aroclor 1260 was found, with the hexachlorinated and heptachlorinated biphenyls accounting for more than 80.2% of the total PCBs concentration. Severn indicator PCBs contribute about 30%, while 12 PCB congeners (i.e., #153, #143, #168, #180, #149, #165, #138, #170, #190, #187, #174, #181) account for more than 50% of the total PCB concentrations. Total concentration of PCDDs, PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs) was found to be 740 ng TEQ/g, of which 620 ng TEQ/g came from DL-PCBs. The contribution of PCDDs to the total TEQ was neglectable. The concentration of PCDFs homologs follows the order of OCDF>HxCDFs>HpCDFs>PeCDFs>TeCDFs, which is in consistence with the previous study on Aroclor 1260. Three DL-PCBs congeners (i.e., #118, #156, #157) accounted for 77% of the total concentration of DL-PCBs, also they contribute 72% in the TEQ caused by DL-PCBs.