Author(s)

María de los D. E. Otero, Mohamed N. K. Sayadi, Luis María Polo Díez

Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Mass Spectrometry Unit, Faculty of Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

An easy and rapid method is proposed for the determination of PCBs in automotive shredder residues, using gas chromatography combined with low resolution mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It is based on direct n-hexane solid-liquid extraction, subtracting background of the lineal aliphatic hydrocarbon interferences and integration of chromatographic peaks containing selected ion PCBs masses (256, 292 and 326 m/z), which are common in all PCBs formulations. Recoveries were in the 80% - 120% range; PCBs were detected and quantified in shredder samples from an automotive shredder industry, thus indicating the validity of the method.

PCBs; Solid-Liquid Extraction; Automotive Shredder Residues; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

M. Otero, M. Sayadi and L. Díez, "Direct Determination of Polychlorinated-Biphenyls in Automotive Shredder Residues by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry," Journal of Analytical Sciences, Methods and Instrumentation, Vol. 3 No. 2, 2013, pp. 90-97. doi: 10.4236/jasmi.2013.32011.