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QUANTITATIVE ELISA OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS IN AN OILY SOIL MATRIX USING SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION
Citation:
Johnson, J C., J M. Van Emon, A. N. Clarke, AND B. N. Wamsley. QUANTITATIVE ELISA OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS IN AN OILY SOIL MATRIX USING SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION. ANALYTICA CHIMICA ACTA 428(2):191-199, (2001).
Impact/Purpose:
More cost-effective field screening and monitoring methods will be provided to increase the amount of information available concerning the location, source, and concentration of pollutants. Rapid and sensitive immunoassays such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) to monitor remediation and cleanup activities at Superfund sites will be developed. Each new method will be tested on real-world samples from monitoring studies. Field studies will be conducted when time and resources permit. The feasibility and application of immunosensors to provide field analytical methods for the dynamic monitoring of hazardous substances of interest to the EPA will also be investigated. Concern has been expressed for the potential exposure of individuals to toxic compounds who live near hazardous waste sites or who may become exposed through other means. Thus, the development of methods for measuring biomarkers for human exposure assessment studies is also addressed.
During the remainder of the Task several projects will be undertaken including:
- Complete the development and evaluation of bioanalytical methods for dioxin and related compounds
- Perform dioxin immunoassay analysis on samples from a dioxin SITE demonstration
- Comparison of an ELISA with gas chromatography (GC) for monitoring polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soils/sediments collected from a Superfund field demonstration
- Survey of bioanalytical methods and sensor technologies for environmental monitoring
- Development of immunoaffinity chromatography sample preparations for PCBs
- Preparation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each bioanalytical method developed
- Conduct yearly research meeting
- Conduct survey of high priority chemicals at National Priorities List (NPL) sites for bioanalysis suitability
- Develop new bioanalytical methods for hazardous compounds of public concern
- Perform PCP immunoassay analysis on soil and sediment samples from a Superfund site and compare with GC data
- Preparation of fact sheets and journal articles
Description:
Soil samples from the GenCorp Lawrence Brownfields site were analyzed with a commercial semi-quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a methanol shake extraction. Many of the soil samples were extremely oily, with total petroleum hydrocarbon levels up to 240 g kg-1, as determined by EPA Method 418.1. Commercial immunoassay results did not agree with confirmatory results obtained by gas chromatographic (GC) analysis of conventional Soxhlet extracts. Sample splits were subsequently extracted using both a methanol shake extraction and a methanolic Soxhlet extraction and analyzed by a quantitative PCB ELISA which has been previously described. The ELISA results for both types of extracts did not agree with GC confirmatory data except for the less oily samples. The current work reports re-analysis of these samples using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) coupled to the same quantitative ELISA. Good agreement between GC results and SFE ELISA results was obtained.
The US Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development funded the research described here. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.