Abstract
A novel micromethod of PCB trace enrichment from contaminated water at the sub ppt level is described. This procedure involves quantitative adsorption of PCB on C18 microcartridges. This sorbent is a covalently bonded silicagel with octadecyl groups. PCBs are retained on the modified surface and subsequently eluted by appropriate apolar solvent prior to high resolution capillary gas chromatography. PCB recovery efficiency has been investigated in the concentration range from 0.01 to 10 ppb. This extraction method appears to result in high performance and rapid purification of dissolved PCB in natural water. The mean recovery percentage reached indeed 95.2% (SD=6.1%) within an overall procedure ranging 10min. As a consequence, the simplicity of use of this PCB trace enrichment makes it useful for field sampling as well as for laboratory experiments.