An evaluation of chromatographic methods for the analysis of polychlorinated terphenyls in environmental samples

Gas chromatography (GC) with packed and capillary columns, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin-layer chromatography have been used to characterize various commercially available mixtures of polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs). Besides, UV absorption and mass spectrometry data have been collected, and the behaviour of PCTs upon perchlorination to the tetradecachloroterphenyls has been studied. Using GC, the PCT content of a number of paper and sewage sludge samples has been determined. The application of perchlorination/GC as method of analysis often yields unreliable, i.e., too high, results compared with the direct GC pattern-comparison method. In the case of paper samples, hydrogenated terphenyls appear to be the principal interfering compounds.