Application of the gas-chromatographic analysis method for the characterization of oils in high capacity industrial electrical equipment

The article aims to highlight one of the highest environmental issues, caused by pollution with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This form of environmental pollution with a negative impact on human health would not be possible without the use of high voltage industrial electrical equipment with dielectric fluids infested with various PCB isomers. In order to carry out the experimental program, samples of dielectric fluids both from Romania and Indonesia were investigated. The PCBs-containing samples were characterized using GC-ECD technique, employing an Agilent 7890 gas chromatograph equipped with a 15 mCi 63Ni µECD detector. PCBs concentrations were calculated using the standard calibration method based on the internal standard according to the corresponding normative documents. Ongoing work is carried out to adapt the technique for the analysis of PCBs in soils contaminated with oil products.