Abstract |
This report describes the work performed and the conclusions obtained from a study on the development of a method for analysis of municipal sewage sludge for chlorinated pesticides and biphenyls. The methodology developed consists of extraction of the polychlorinated compounds by liquid-liquid partitioning, cleanup by removal of some interferences on a liquid chromatographic column and by precipitation of sulfur with mercury, concentration by evaporation of the extracting solvent, detection and quantification by electron capture gas chromatography, and confirmation of identity by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The methodology developed was determined to provide a sound basis for the determination of polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in municipal sewage treatment facilities. The detection limit attained by application of the methodology to a number of different sludge and 3 to 15 microgram per gram dry sludge for the multicomponent polychlorinated formulations studied, chlordane, toxaphene, and Arochlor 1260. |