A GC/MS-MS versus GC/HRMS dioxin analysis comparison: Some critical considerations for low-level environmental samples

Current European Union regulations permit the use of GC/MS-MS and bioassay techniques, for screening dioxins, only in feed and food samples. In this work, we present a critical comparison of the official GC/HRMS methods and GC/MS-MS approach for the determination of PCDDs and PCDFs congeners in environmental samples.Polychlorinated dibenzo- p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are a class of ubiquitous persistent organic pollutants, formed mainly during combustion processes, which have a high toxic potential. Many countries have now compiled inventories of dioxin sources to better understand and quantify the amounts of PCDD/Fs emitted. Official methods for PCDD and PCDF analyses are based on gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (GC/HRMS) due to high sensitivity and selectivity. However, there are more and more evidences that it is possible to perform screening of these environmental pollutants using a GC/MS or a more specific tandem GC/MS-MS approach. GC coupled to triple quadrupole MS allows higher throughput, lower maintenance, and ultimately lower costs per analysis. Current European Union regulations permit the use of GC/MS-MS and bioassay techniques for screening dioxins only in feed and food samples. In this work, we present a critical comparison of the official GC/HRMS methods and GC/MS-MS approach for the determination of PCDDs and PCDFs congeners in environmental air and soil samples.