Feasibility of high-performance immunochromatography as an isolation method for PCBs and other dioxin-like compounds

7 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables.-- PMID: 11467562 [PubMed].-- Printed version published on Jul 1, 2001.Part of this work in included in Spanish patent P200001313, http://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/11427A high performance immunochromatographic procedure to isolate polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other dioxin-like compounds from a sample is shown. Development of the procedure includes (i) synthesis of the hapten, binding it to the spacer arm and to the carrier protein to make the immunizing molecule; (ii) raising and purification of anti-PCB antibodies; (iii) building of the immunocolumn; (iv) selection of the binding, rinsing, and elution conditions adequate for these highly lipophilic compounds; (v) study of the influence of the concentration and volume of sample on recovery; and (vi) study of the selectivity of the immunosystem for dioxins, furans, PCBs, and several insecticides of different toxicity. Evaluation of the method is carried out by analyzing the fractions retained and nonretained in the immunocolumn by GC/MS. The immunochromatographic system that is developed shows itself to be feasible as cleanup and isolation steps carried out prior to GC/MS analyses. When compared to classical cleanup and isolation methods traditionally used for analysis of PCBs in water, the immunochromatographic method is >20× faster and uses 100× less organic solvents, and its selectivity is enormously enhanced. Good recoveries are obtained with both kinds of methods. The immunochromatographic procedure fulfils the acceptance criteria indicated by the EPA, even for sub-parts-per-billion concentrations.This work has been supported by the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (CAM Project 07M/0046/99) and by EC Inco Copernicus Program (IC15-CT98-0910). M. A. Concejero thanks Mapfre-CSIC for a predoctoral grant. M.-P. Marco from the Department of Biological Organic Chemistry, IIQAB (CSIC), Barcelona (Spain), is acknowledged for help with raising antibodies. E. Abad and J. Rivera from the Department of Ecotechnologies, IIQAB (CSIC), Barcelona (Spain) are acknowledged for performing some of the HRGC-HRMS analyses.Peer reviewe