Polyaromatic hydrocarbons as high-performance liquid chromatographic calibration standards for the low level determination of chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and chlorinated dibenzofurans in biological samples.

A series of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been used to calibrate the retention times of chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (dioxins) and chlorinated dibenzofurans (furans) on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the ultra-trace analysis of biological samples. Fraction collection is then based on the HPLC retention times of the PAHs without the need for the dioxins or furans. Because of the variety of PAHs, a particular one can be chosen that will co-chromatograph near any given dioxin or furan. It has been shown that the effect of solvent changes and sample co-extractives on the HPLC eluting properties of the PAHs is minimal. The use of PAHs as secondary standards for HPLC calibration in dioxin trace analysis diminishes both the potential for contamination of the sample by the standard and the handling of the chlorinated dioxins and furans. The PAH standards could also be useful for those laboratories who are limited in their safety facilities or in the number and amount of dioxin-furan standards available to them.