SIMPLIFIED CLEAN-UP METHOD FOR dl-PCBs AND PCDD/Fs IN FLUE GAS EMISSIONS

A method for the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDDs/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCB) in flue gas emissions was developed. Reference methods for the quantitative analysis of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs involve successive clean-up steps on various chromatographic adsorbents which considerably increase the time needed for analysis. In order to simplify the clean-up step we used an automated clean-up system based on gel permeation chromatography to perform the purification of coextractable and potentially interfering compounds combined with an in-line concentration system, followed by a SPE alumina column to separate PCDD/Fs from and dl-PCBs. It was possible to couple the two columns thanks to the in-line concentration system. Different elution conditions were tested starting from the most common procedure applied to separate PCDD/Fs from dl-PCBs: in the final experiment we obtained a complete separation of all dl-PCBs from PCDD/Fs.