DEVELOPMENT OF A QUANTIFICATION METHODOLOGY FOR POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS BY USING KANECHLOR PRODUCTS AS THE SECONDARY REFERENCE-STANDARD

Kanechlor (KC)-300, 400, 500 and 600, Japanese polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) products, and their equivalent mixture were analyzed by using a gas chromatograph (GC) equipped with an SE-54 capillary column/electron capture detector (ECD) and a GC/mass spectrometer in the selected ion monitoring mode (MS-SIM). All peaks were assigned to the composing congeners based on the data on peak assignment of Clophen A-30, 40, 50, 60 and Aroclor 1016, 1242, 1254, 1260 [1] and on the relative retention time values of 209 PCB congeners [2]. The weight percentage of the congener(s) which corresponds to each peak in the mass chromatograms was calculated by comparison of its height with that of certified reference standard with the same molecular weight. Each weight percentage of PCB congener(s) corresponding to each ECD peak was obtained by summing up the percent contribution values of the PCB congeners co-eluting. The results showed that it was possible to use KC products and their equivalent mixture as secondary reference standards for congener-specific PCB quantification.