Characterization of 9 Gas Chromatography Columns by Linear and Lee Retention Indices for Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Polychlorinated Naphthalenes

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and naphthalenes (PCNs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants with varying degrees of toxicity. There are hundreds of possible congeners with similar chemical characteristics, which make these compounds difficult to isolate in environmental samples. Historically, PCBs and PCNs were identified by using an Aroclor or Halowax mixture instead of the individual compounds, which was impractical because of limited numbers of individual standards. A retention index database was developed with all 209 PCBs and 36 PCNs to help identify these chemicals in environmental and biological matrixes. This study uses linear and Lee retention indices to identify all 209 PCBs and 36 PCNs on nine gas chromatography columns. The most toxic congeners, the 12 dioxin-like PCBs, were compared across all columns to determine which stationary phases gave the best selectivity for those compounds. Column selectivity was also examined to determine columns for confirmatory analyses and GC×GC separations. The Rxi-17SilMS demonstrated the most drastic difference in PCB selectivity and, to a lesser extent, PCNs when compared with the other eight columns and could work as a confirmatory column or as a 2nd dimension column for GC×GC separations.