Direct Determination of Polychlorinated-Biphenyls in Automotive Shredder Residues by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

An easy and rapid method is proposed for the determination of PCBs in automotive shredder residues, using gas chromatography combined with low resolution mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It is based on direct n-hexane solid-liquid extraction, subtracting background of the lineal aliphatic hydrocarbon interferences and integration of chromatographic peaks containing selected ion PCBs masses (256, 292 and 326 m/z), which are common in all PCBs formulations. Recoveries were in the 80% - 120% range; PCBs were detected and quantified in shredder samples from an automotive shredder industry, thus indicating the validity of the method.