Separation of polychlorinated biphenyls (Aroclor 1254) by high-performance liquid chromatography.

The separation of Aroclor 1254 on various reversed-phase columns was investigated. The results show that the cyano- and phenyl-bonded columns performed poorly, but C18 bonded columns gave better results. It was also found that the absorption wavelength at which the effluent is monitored has great effect on the detection of these isomers. The optimum conditions for the separation and detection are: C18, 5 micron; reversed-phase column, 20 cm X 4.6 mm I.D.; acetonitrile-water (60-40); flow-rate 1.5 ml/min; detection at 210 nm or 205 nm.