Meeting the Challenges of EPA 1613b Using Gas

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (Figure 1) are
some of the most toxic materials known to man. These
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been linked to
cancer and adverse reproductive and endocrine effects.1,2
The "Gold Standard" for dioxin analysis is EPA 1613b
Protocol which has rigid requirements for sensitivity, isotopic
abundance, and resolving power (R10% = 10,000). Some of
the specific performance criteria are provided in Table 1.
This has been historically achieved, and the method
developed, exclusively using magnetic sector instruments.3,4
In this analysis these instruments have operated in selected
ion monitoring mode using slow scans in a targeted
analysis. Other high performance systems including FTICR,
orbitraps, and early GC-TOF systems failed to achieve one
or more of the needed performance metrics. High
resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry provides for the
acquisition of spectral data across a wide mass range, with
the requisite resolving power (R10% > 10,000), high mass
accuracy, and appropriate sensitivity. This application note
shows that the performance of the LECO Pegasus® GC-HRT
meets or exceeds the requirements for dioxin analysis per
the US EPA 1613b Protocol.