A review of methods for the determination of polychlorodibenzo‐p‐dioxins and polychlorodibenzofurans in phenoxyalkanoic acid herbicides

Abstract

A review is presented of the analytical methods for the detection and determination of polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorodibenzofurans in phenoxyalkanoic acid herbicides.

Determination of part-per-trillion levels of polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dioxins in environmental samples

“…Determinations of PCDDs, PCDFs, and nonortho PCBs in environmental samples at levels below 1 pptr are particularly susceptible to interferences and possible false-positive results as a consequence of the likely occurrence of a large variety of polychlorinated aromatic cocontaminants and because full-scan mass spectrometric analyses are usually unattainable. More than a dozen families of such compounds are recognized as potential interferences in these types of analyses (35,58), including DDE and DDT and polychlorinated members of the following compounds: biphenyl (59), methoxybiphenyls (60), hydroxybiphenyls, diphenyl ether (61), methoxydiphenyl ethers, hydroxydiphenyl ethers (62), benzyl phenyl ether (63), naphthalene, biphenylene, phenylbenzoquinone (64), xanthene, and bis(phenoxy)methane (65). Most of these families of compounds have the potential to interfere with and produce false-positive results in determinations of PCDDs and PCDFs even in HRMS (35).…”

Determination of selected chlorodibenzofurans and chlorodibenzodioxins using two-dimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

“…Such processes can result in an overestimation of the analyte concentration and can potentially occur in any GC experiment on a crude sample. This problem has been discussed by others (2). In the case of the PCB fluid reported here, such a possibility was eliminated by comparison with data from purified samples.…”

“…The work of Harless et al is typical (1). A review of various methods have been published (2). We wish to report that for certain classes of sample, important congeners of each of these materials can be determined at part per billion (ppb) levels by two-dimensional GCMS (GC/GC/MS) without the use of any prior isolation procedure whatsoever.…”