title: Simple immunoassay for detection of PCBs in transformer oil.
abstract: A rapid and inexpensive procedure to detect polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in transformer oil is needed to facilitate identification and removal of PCB contaminated transformers. Here we describe a simple two-step liquid-liquid extraction using acidic dimethyl sulfoxide in conjunction with an immunoassay for detecting PCBs in transformer oil. The process described is faster and simpler than any previous immunoassay while maintaining comparable detection limit and false negative rate. Cross reactivity data, characterizing the immunoassay response to the four Kanechlor technical mixtures of PCBs in oil, are presented. Forty-five used transformer oil samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry and were also evaluated using the immunoassay protocol developed. Results presented show zero false negatives at a 1.4 ppm nominal cutoff for the transformer oils analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Department of Bioscience, 1646 Abiko, Abiko City, Chiba, Japan. tom@sapidyne.com
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohmura
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taemi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Joh
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D009821:Oils; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D011210:Power Plants; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009821:Oils; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls