Extraction of Polychlorinated Biphenyls: Evaluation of a Column Technique Applied to Polar Bear and Seal Tissue

• Published in: Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL
• Main Authors: Bowes, Gerald W, Lewis, Jennifer A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 1974
• Subjects: General Chemistry; polar bear
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaoac/57.1.138; http://academic.oup.com/jaoac/article-pdf/57/1/138/32483616/jaoac0138.pdf

Abstract A column extraction procedure was evaluated for the extraction of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) from polar bear and seal liver and fat tissue. DDE (2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-l,l-dichloroethylene) was also present in these tissues, and was quantitated for comparative purposes. Two solvent systems were compared: hexane and chloroform-methanol. The chlorinated hydrocarbons were also separated from the liver and fat by digestion of tissue in hot perchloric-glacial acetic acid, and treatment of tissue with acetone and hot isopropanol (considered to be an exhaustive extraction method for lipid). Six replicate extractions were performed for each of the 4 procedures applied to the 4 tissues. The results suggest that the column technique is excellent for extraction of these chlorinated hydrocarbons from animal tissue. Hexane eluted through a sodium sulfate- tissue mixture in a column was as effective in extracting PCB and DDE from polar bear and seal fat as the standard method of comparison (acetone-isopropanol), and slightly less effective (2—4%) in recovering them from liver. These results also indicate that PCB and DDT compounds are associated with the nonpolar lipid component in the cell. A fraction collection study with polar bear liver and fat shows that hexane removes the compounds rapidly from the 2 tissue types. Most of the PCB and DDE is eluted in the first 50 ml.