Trace level determination of trichloroethylene from liver, lung and kidney tissues by gas chromatography–magnetic sector mass spectrometry

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a common industrial chemical that has been heavily used as a metal degreaser and a solvent for the past 100 years. As a result of the extensive use and production of this compound, it has become prevalent in the environment, appearing at over 50% of the hazardous waste sites on the US EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL). TCE exposure has been linked to neurological dysfunction as well as to several types of cancer in animals. This paper describes the development and validation of a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method for the quantitation of trace levels of TCE in its target tissues (i.e. liver, kidney and lungs). The limit of quantitation (5 ng/ml) is substantially lower than currently published methods for the analysis of TCE in tissues. The % RSD and % Error for the assay falls within the acceptable range (<15% for middle and high QC points and <20% for low QC points), and the recovery is high from all tissues (>79%).