Sensitive spectrofluorimetric determination of 3,3′,4,4′-tetrachlorobiphenyl using a neutral micellar medium

Abstract

3,3′,4,4′-Tetrachlorobiphenyl (TTCB) has been studied in the presence of cationic, anionic, neutral surfactants, α-cyclodextrin and β-cyclodextrin. The enhancement of the fluorescence of this polychlorobiphenyl in polyoxyethylene (10) lauryl ether (POLE) medium has been used to develop a spectrofluorimetric method for the sensitive determination of TTCB. Variables such as the concentration of surfactant, percentage of organic solvent, and temperature, together with the possible interferences of eighteen different polychlorinated biphenyls and Aroclors have been studied. The method, which has a detection limit of 1.4 ng ml−1, has been applied to the determination of TTCB added to sea water with acceptable recovery.