PCBs were used as coolants and dielectric fluid in transformers, as flame retardants, hydraulic fluids and additives in plastics and for many other applications until the 1980s. They are toxic, persistent and bioaccumulate in terrestial and aquatic biosystems and due to atmospheric effects they are ubiquitous in the environment. Sediment samples from a round robin program (SETOC 2008/4, Wepal, Wageningen University) were extracted according to EPA 3545A with the BUCHI SpeedExtractor E.916 and analyzed by GC-MS. The results correspond to the values found by the round robin testing and show high recovery and low variation.

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