ABSTRACT
Dioxin, in particular 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD), is the most potent man-made carcinogen. Dioxin contamination in the environment has received much attention, not only from environmental chemists but also from the public, because of its potent carcinogenicity. Since Tswett invented column chromatography (CC) in 1906, it has been widely used to separate organic materials form complex matrices. There are several excellent review articles containing CC cleanup methods. The CC cleanup methods included an extrelut column, silica gel, florisil column, and an alumina column. Since the invention of gas chromatography (GC) in the early 1950s, determination of trace contaminants in various matrices became possible. Once adequate cleanup is accomplished, high-resolution and highly sensitive GC or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) can achieve satisfactory analysis of TCDDs. A normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was used to fractionate complex mixtures into several simple fractions, and then further analysis of TCDDs was conducted using GC/MS.
