Abstract
A method for the simultaneous extraction of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated benzenes in sediments using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technique was developed. The best recovery of the above chlorinated pollutants was obtained by using non-modified carbon dioxide at 35 MPa and an extraction temperature of 100°C with a sediment moisture content in the 11 to 50% range. Cleanup of SFE extract was performed on a miniature Florisil column followed by sulfur removal with mercury. PCB levels were quantitated by a mixture of selected PCB congeners using a mass-selective detector so that the level of each PCB homologue series as well as the total PCB concentration in the sample extract could be evaluated. Under the optimized conditions, an extraction time of only 21 minutes was needed to produce PCB results comparable to a 7-h Soxhlet extraction. Meanwhile, the SFE recovery of chlorinated benzenes was up to 50% higher than for the Soxhlet results due to lower evaporative losses in the former procedure.
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