Analysis of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Biological Samples by Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography

Abstract

Based on headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) procedure coupled with gas chromatography, a method for determination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in biological samples was developed. The optimization of factors influencing the performances of SPME was studied in detail. To perform the HS-SPME polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polydimethylsiloxane-divinyl benzene (PDMS-DVB) and polyacrylate (PA) fibers were compared on the basis of their absorption capacities for the selected compounds, and PDMS-DVB fiber was selected. The influence of various parameters on PCBs extraction efficiency by HS-SPME was studied using GC-electron capture detector (ECD). The linear range of most compounds was found to be between 1 and 100 μgL−1 and the limits of detection were between 20.1 and 42.3 ngL−1. The reproducibility of the method (n = 6), expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD), was between 4.63 and 9.71%. Finally, the optimization of method was applied to determine selected PCBs in biological samples.