Water quality — Determination of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN) — Method using gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS)

ISO/TS 16780:2015 specifies a method for the determination of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), where "poly" means "mono" to "octa", in waters and waste waters [containing less than 2 g/l solid particulate material (SPM)] using high resolution gas chromatography?high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC?HRMS).

NOTE 1 The congeners analysed by this method are listed in Table 1.

The working range of the method is 20 pg/l to 8 ng/l. The method is optimized for PCNs, but can be modified to include other coplanar compounds such as polychlorinated dioxins and furans (PCDDs/PCDFs) and dioxin-like tetra- to heptachlorinated biphenyls (dlPCBs). This method can be used to determine PCNs in other matrices (e.g. biota, sediments, air); however, additional clean-up steps and techniques can be necessary for samples with high organic loadings. Low resolution mass spectrometry (LRMS) and mass spectrometry?mass spectrometry (MS?MS) can be used.

NOTE 2 LRMS and MS?MS conditions are summarized in Annex A.

Both LRMS and MS?MS can be less selective than HRMS and there is a possibility of bias due to interfering compounds if these techniques are used.

The detection limits and quantification levels