Solid-Phase Microextraction

Conventional analytical methods for organic pollutants in water require extraction of the pollutants with hazardous solvents. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a solvent-free equilibrium extraction method which, with proper calibration, can allow quantitative determinations of organic pollutants at very good sensitivity (usually low-to-mid parts per trillion) without the use of any organic solvents. The method can require as little as 30 minutes for sample preparation and analytical separations, is easily automated, and is ideally suited for use in the field. Although the method was originally developed for the analysis of water samples, the EERC is now combining subcritical water extraction with SPME to allow for a very rapid and organic solvent-free method for determining organic pollutants on soils and sludges.