Sources of Errors Associated with the Determination of PAH and PCB Analytes in Water Samples

Abstract

This work describes the problems occurring in routine determination of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in water. On the basis of experiments carried out, sources of analyte losses in a particular step of the analytical procedure were identified and assessed. Primary attention has been paid to evaluation of the following:

	degree of adsorption of analytes from the group of PCBs and PAHs on the walls of glass vessels used during sample pretreatment and storage
	influence of excess of solvent evaporation from extracts on analyte recoveries
	influence of material of extraction column (glass, polyethylene) on analyte recovery during the solid extraction process.

Keywords:

• Environmental pollutants
• trace analysis
• water analysis
• sample preparation
• PAHs
• PCBs