Analysis of polybrominated biphenyls.

High-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, ultraviolet spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry have been used to characterize the behaviour of a number of individual brominated biphenyls and to assess the composition of several mixtures of these compounds. The dependence of retention and spectral characteristics on the bromine content of the substituted biphenyls is discussed and the behaviour of polybrominated biphenyls is compared with that of polychlorinated biphenyls. The applicability of high-performance liquid chromatography to photodegradation studies is demonstrated.