BS ISO 17858:2007

Water quality. Determination of dioxin-like polychlorinated Biphenyls. Method using gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry. | Status: Current, Confirmed

1 Scope This International Standard specifies a method for the determination of dioxin-like tetra- to hepta-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in waters and wastewaters (containing less than 1 % suspended solids) using high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The method is optimized for dioxin-like PCBs, but can include other co-planar compounds such as polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDDs/PCDFs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs). This method can be used to determine dioxin-like PCBs in other matrices (e.g. biota, sediments, air); however, additional clean-up steps and techniques can be required for samples with high organic loadings. This method is applicable to the twelve non- and mono-ortho PCBs designated by the World Health Organization, as well as to other PCBs and co-planar compounds. The detection limits and quantification levels in this method are dependent on the level of interferences as well as instrumental limitations. The minimum levels (ML) in Table 2 are the levels at which the dioxin-like PCBs can typically be determined with no interferences present. This method is “performance based”. The analyst is permitted to modify the method to overcome interferences or lower the cost of measurements, provided that all performance criteria in this method are met. The requirements for establishing method equivalency are given in 9.2.