High-resolution gas chromatography of the 22 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin isomers

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ac50064a006

The 22 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (TCDDs) were synthesized in microgram quantities by a simple pyrolysis procedure from different potassium chlorophenates. The separation of these TCDD isomers was studied on high-resolution glass capillary columns with different stationary phases (Silar 10c, OV-17, OV-101) and by use of mass spectrometric detection. Conditions were found that allowed the unambiguous assignment of many of these isomers, including the very toxic 2378-TCDD. The determination of the various TCDD isomers is illustrated in the analysis of samples from known contaminated areas in Seveso, Italy, and in eastern Missouri, and the method is also applied to the analysis of fish from the Tittabawassee River in Michigan and fly ash samples from municipal incinerators in Switzerland.