New halogen-specific detector applied to the analysis of chlorinated fatty acids.

A new halogen-specific detection method (XSD) was tested for determination of chlorinated fatty acids in marine biota. In XSD, an increased emission of ions and electrons is caused by the high-temperature combustion of halogen-containing compounds. The detection limit of methyl dichlorooctadecanoate and the selectivity at a reactor temperature of 900 degrees C match those of electrolytic conductivity detection (ELCD). The relative standard deviation is less than 11% for > or =0.2 ng methyl dichlorooctadecanoate. An XSD chromatogram of a complex sample, chlorinated fatty acid methyl esters liberated from fish lipids, agreed with a previously obtained ELCD chromatogram.