Combination of micellar extraction and GC-ECD for the determination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in water

The application of the solvent-free micellar extraction as an alternative method to the liquid-liquid extraction for the enrichment of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from ultrapure and natural water is presented. A nonionic surfactant was used to preconcentrate the PCBs. After a clean-up consisting of two columns (silica gel and Florisil) the analytes were identified and quantified by GC-ECD. Recoveries for spiked water were up to 100%. For highly contaminated seepage water of landfills liquid-liquid extraction is involving great problems with the phase separation of water and solvent. According to our results, the micellar extraction is superior to the liquid-liquid extraction for this difficult kind of aqueous matrix.