Determination of pentachlorophenol in rabbit and human liver using liquid chromatography and gas chromatography with electron-capture detection

A method has been developed for the determination of ppb levels of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in liver by column liquid chromatography with on-line electron-capture detection (LC-ECD). The technique is compared with gas chromatography-ECD (GC-ECD) for the analysis of rabbit and human livers. Good results were generally obtained for LC-ECD down to the low-ppb range; however, in some cases problems were observed when the sample is not dissolved in the LC eluent. LC-ECD can adequately be used as a confirmation method for GC-ECD.