Evaluation of gas chromatography with electrolytic conductivity detection and electron capture detection and use of negative chemical ionization GC‐MS for the analysis of PCBs in effluents

Gas chromatography with electrolytic conductivity detection and electron capture detection in combination with gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry, operated in the electron capture negative chemical ionization mode, were evaluated as techniques for the analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls in wastewater from an industrial facility. The specificity of the electrolytic conductivity detector reduced sample turnaround time because extracts could be analyzed without fractionation or cleanup Using a 2 L sample, this methodology had a quantification limit, based on Aroclor 1260, of 0.1 μg/L and a detection limit of approximately 0.03 μg/L The electron capture detector was subject to interferences from nonhalogenated compounds and required additional sample cleanup Electron capture negative chemical ionization gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry was highly specific and provided full mass spectra of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners at the same quantification limit. Effluents from the facility had polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations of 0.1 to 1 μg/L.