High resolution gas chromatographic analysis of nonpolar chlorinated hydrocarbons in human milk.

A gas chromatographic method is described for the analysis of human milk to determine polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as 72 congeners plus p,p'-DDE, mirex, hexachlorobenzene, and octachlorostyrene. The detection limit for individual compounds is about 0.05 ng/g when 30 g milk is analyzed. Total PCBs can be estimated with a detection limit of 1-5 ng/mL milk. Analytical precision is better than +/- 10% for all compounds at 20-50 ng/mL whole milk.