Isolation of mono- and non-ortho polychlorinated biphenyls from biological samples by electron-donor acceptor high performance liquid chromatography using a 2-(1-pyrenyl)ethyldimethylsilylated silica column

A method for the analysis of both mono- and non-ortho polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in biological tissue samples is described. The method includes solvent extraction, sulfuric acid/n-hexane partitioning, gel permeation chromatography and finally electron-donor acceptor high performance liquid chromatography using a 2-(1-pyrenyl)ethyldimethylsilylated silica column (PYE column). The PYE column separates PCBs according to the number of chlorine atoms in the ortho positions. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and GC/electron capture detection (GC/ECD) were used to analyze the non- and the mono-ortho PCB fractions, respectively. The method was found to give high recoveries and a low degree of discrimination between different PCB congeners.