A method for extraction of pentachlorophenol from plant tissues

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) was extracted from well homogenized and acidified plant samples with diethyl ether. Partial purification was carried out by the partition of PCP between ether extract and aqueous sodium hydroxide (5%), then between the acidified sodium hydroxide solution and benzene. The final purification of PCP was achieved by its good gas chromatographic separation during the quantitative determination. Techniques for optimizing the efficiency of the method were described in detail. The efficiency of the method was found to increase with the increase of the starting quantities of PCP, where it reached 89.2% for amounts greater than 400 ng. The loss of PCP due to its presence in the plant tissues was 29.3 and 21.6% for concentrations of PCP lower than 35.5 and higher than 46.2 ppb in the plant respectively. The overall recovery of PCP from plant tissues was found to be about 60% and 70% at the mentioned low and high concentrations in the plant.