Use of short, wide-bore capillary columns in GC toxicological screening.

The usefulness of wide-bore, thick film capillary columns for routine toxicological screening was assessed. Two such columns were examined: fused silica CPSil 5CB (i.d., 0.53 mm; length, 10 m; film thickness, 5.2 microns) and glass SPB-1 (i.d. 0.75 mm; length, 30 m; film thickness, 1.0 micron). A standard packed column filled with 3% OV-1 (i.d., 2 mm; length, 1.5 m) and a medium-bore fused silica column CPSil 5 (i.d., 0.32 mm; length, 25 m; film thickness, 0.4 micron) were examined for comparison. Mixtures of alkanes and drugs, as well as biological samples from routine casework, were analyzed. Both types of wide-bore columns proved to be very useful in routine toxicological practice, due to satisfactory efficiency, high capacity, and ease of installation. The retention index values of various drugs, examined on wide-bore columns, were in agreement with the reference database obtained from packed columns.