CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL ISOMERS IN SOVOL AND TRICHLORODIPHENYL FORMULATIONS BY HIGH-RESOLUTION GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH ELECTRON-CAPTURE DETECTION AND HIGH-RESOLUTION GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY TECHNIQUES

The composition of two technical polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) formulations, Sovol and Trichlorodiphenyl, has been characterized by high-resolution gas chromatography (HRGC) with electron capture detection (ECD) and HRGC-mass spectrometry (MS) techniques. Identification of the individual PCB components has been made by comparison of relative retention times (RRTs) for seven individual PCB standards, for individual peaks of Sovol and Trichlorodiphenyl, and for different types of Aroclor mixtures. Also, the correlation to literature data was analyzed. The accuracy of PCB determinations with this approach depends on the similarity of the production process and the high reproducibility of retention time data obtained for individual peaks by HRGC-ECD. Average weight percent distribution of the PCB isomer group was calculated for Sovol and Trichlorodiphenyl and compared to Aroclor data. The results indicate that Sovol and Trichlorodiphenyl formulations are fairly close to Aroclors 1254 and 1242, respectively.