title: Comparison of the compositions of Aroclor 1242 and Aroclor 1016.
abstract: The complete polychlorinated biphenyl compositions of two American products, Aroclor 1242 and its more modern replacement, Aroclor 1016, have been determined by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) on twelve liquid phases of differing selectivities. Attempts were made to determine the degree of contamination of these Aroclors with chlorinated naphthalenes, using GLC with multiple ion-monitoring mass spectrometry. Chlorinated dibenzofurans, indetectable in Aroclor 1016, were tentatively identified by negative chemical-ionization mass spectrometry and their retention times relative to dieldrin on two GLC liquid phases. Quantitation of the dibenzofurans was initially accomplished using an electron-capture detector, and confirmed by negative chemical-ionization mass spectrometry. Aroclor 1242 contained less than 0.05 mol.% chloronaphthalenes, while Aroclor 1016 contained less than 0.06 mol.% of these compounds. Aroclor 1242 had approximately 150 ppb of chlorinated dibenzofurans, of which 43% was the toxic 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro isomer.
mesh_terms: D001140:Aroclors; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D001140:Aroclors; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls