Selective enrichment procedures for the determination of polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental samples by gel permeation chromatography.

An improved two-step clean up procedure involving alumina-silica column chromatography and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of air particulate matter (NBS SRM 1648) and river sediment extracts and a GPC clean up procedure for marine biota samples are described for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with two to five rings and selected polychlorinated biphenyl congeners, respectively. Bio-Beads SX-12 and SX-3 were used as packing materials. The recoveries obtained varied from 52 to 78% depending on the compound. Quantitative data for NBS SRM 1648 were comparable with those described previously for this sample.