Validation study of gas chromatographic determination of pentachlorophenol in animal liver

A validation study was conducted of a gas chromatographic procedure for the determination of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in chicken, pork, and beef liver. Five analysts representing 5 laboratories analyzed randomly numbered blind duplicates at 3 fortified tissue concentrations and one incurred tissue on 2 consecutive days. The PCP concentrations ranged from approximately 40 to 400 parts per billion (ppb). All data were reported to 3 significant figures in ppb. The coefficients of variation for repeatability were between 2.8 and 8.5%, except for the beef liver, at a mean value of 80 ppb PCP, where the CV was 11.3%. The CVs for reproducibility were in the range of 9.7-16.5% with little significant difference by species. The CV asymptotically approached 10% as the PCP level increased.