Size-exclusion chromatography on zeolites in the trace analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine pesticides

In analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) difficulties can arise with interference from naturally occurring compounds which behave chromatographically similarly to the target analytes. In this paper we report that much of this material (approximately 98%) can be removed simply and rapidly by passing the isolate through a short column of powdered zeolite ZSM-5. No losses of PAHs or OCPs were discernible in this procedure, which provides substantial improvements in terms of analytical performance.