Rapid aryl hydrocarbon receptor based polymerase chain reaction screening assay for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans in soil and sediment

A method for the estimation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and furan (PCCD/F) toxicity equivalent quotient (TEQ) of soil and sediment matrices is described. The method includes extraction, isolation of the PCDD/Fs from interfering compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and measurement of PCDD/F using the PROCEPT® aryl hydrocarbon (AhR) receptor based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The values obtained using the PROCEPT® assay correlate well with reference TEQ values generated from gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS), with a linearity coefficient (R2) of 0.94. Applied in a screening mode at 50 pg/g PCDD/F TEQ, the PROCEPT® assay yielded five false positive results (2.6%) and no false negative results for 196 analyses of spiked soils and environmental samples obtained from US EPA Superfund sites.