Estimation of measurement uncertainty of polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine pesticides in the atmosphere using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and gas chromatography–electron capture detector

•First study to calculate the uncertainty of POPs analysis in the air.•The calculations are shown step by step in order to make an easy and useful guide.•The most important effects were recovery, repeatability and calibration curve.

Estimation of uncertainty of measurement is a crucial issue to achieve accurate measurement results. When the target has adverse environmental and health effects, accuracy of the results become more important. POPs are the pollutants that have toxic effects and unfortunately, there is a lack of information about uncertainty of the method for determining POPs in air samples. In this work, uncertainty calculations were carried out for PCBs, OCPs, and PAHs in air samples analyzed by using GC–MS and GC–ECD. The main dominant sources for combined uncertainty were calibration curve, recovery and repeatability. The relative uncertainties were found to be in the range of 23–52% for PCBs, 24–59% for OCPs and 23–90% for PAHs.