Determination of polychlorinated biphenyls in human blood by solid-phase extraction including on-column lipid decomposition.

A method for the isolation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from human blood using solid-phase extraction (SPE) has been developed. The procedure incorporates decomposition of lipids by concentrated sulphuric acid directly on the SPE column. Conditions for transferring PCBs onto the SPE column and washing the decomposed blood components from the SPE column were optimised. After clean-up the extracts were analysed using gas chromatography with electron capture detection. An average recovery of PCBs from spiked blood samples was about 78+/-8% and an average precision was about 109+/-7%. Quantitation has been done using four internal standards and calibration curves based on five concentration levels. Low procedural blanks made it possible to determine PCBs in blood quantitatively at a level down to 2-10 pg g(-1). The integrated method for blood is fast, less laborious than methods using liquid-liquid extraction and has a low consumption of organic solvents.