Increasing Extraction Efficiency of Pesticides and Dioxins from Wet Samples Using a Novel Polymer During Accelerated Solvent Extraction

Accelerated solvent extraction is a high-temperature, high-pressure extraction technique that is widely used for sample extractions in the environmental, chemical and food analysis industries. Extractions at higher temperatures and pressures allow faster extraction of analytes relative to conventional solid-liquid based extraction techniques such as Soxhlet. Typically the sample is mixed with a dispersant and loaded into a cell followed by extraction with a suitable solvent. Analyte recovery using this method of extraction for wet samples is always challenging, as the presence of water in the sample can interfere with the extraction efficiency. The analyte of interest may partition between the extracting solvent and the water phase. It is therefore desirable to dry the sample prior to extraction. Traditional drying techniques that involve mixing the wet sample with an inorganic salt that has a high affinity for the aqueous phase are unsuitable for in-cell extraction. This study presents the use of a novel new polymer for in-line drying of a wet sample for the analysis of organochlorine pesticides, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in different matrices. Data showing recoveries for each of these target compounds in different matrices will be presented.