Analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in particulate and oily...

During this study wipe sampling was applied to various impervious surfaces for the determination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDFs) area concentrations. To that end, a wipe sampling method based on solvent wetted cotton wipes was evaluated and transfer efficiencies of PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs in particulate films (PFs) and oily liquid films (OFs) during sampling were investigated. For PFs sufficient transfer efficiencies of low concentrated PCB and PCDD/PCDF congeners in 1g/m(2) spiking surrogate were achieved after the first wipe using n-hexane as wetting solvent. Transfer efficiencies for OFs were the highest in the first wipe if n-hexane or n-heptane were used rather than toluene. The spiking experiments of OFs showed a log-linear correlation between the number of wiping procedures and transfer efficiency which indicates that transfer efficiencies were constant in subsequent wipes. Furthermore, it was successfully demonstrated that pressurized liquid extraction is a suitable tool for the extraction of wipe samples. Finally, the feasibility of this wipe sampling method was demonstrated on various impervious surfaces of different origin, and concentration levels of PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs in wipe samples are discussed. Hereby, remarkably high ∑CB6 concentrations of up to 1400μg/m(2) (taken at a transformer recycling site) were detected.