Determining Pentachlorophenol in Body Fluids by Gas Chromatography After Acetylation

A sensitive, precise, and accurate method for rapidly analyzing body fluids for pentachlorophenol has been developed. The method includes acidification end ex-traction of the fluid with hexane. The extract is reacted with acetic anhydride, washed with buffer, and Injected Into a gas chromatograph fitted with an electron capture detector. Quantltatlon of the pentschloro-phenol is based on the ratio of the peak height of pen-tachlorophenyl acetate to an internal standard, trl-bromophenyl acetate. The lower detection limit in urine or serum is 1- 2 parts per billion. The method was applied to workers in pentachlorophenol formulat-ing plants and to residents of pentachlorophenol treated log houses. Hydrolysis Increased the yield o