Comparison of solid-phase extraction and supercritical fluid extraction for extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from drinking water

Abstract

This work compares four different extraction techniques [solid-phase extraction (SPE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), solid-phase extraction followed by supercritical fluid extraction (SPE/SFE), and liquid–liquid extraction (LLE)] for the extraction of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from both fortified and drinking water. For SPE, the analytes were trapped on three different solid phases (octadecyl, cyanopropyl, and phenyl) and eluted with methylene chloride or acetonitrile. The SFE parameters were optimized by introducing the spiked water directly into the extraction cell and extracting with CO2 modified with methylene chloride. These studies showed that for SPE, the octadecyl phase had the best recoveries for volatile PAHs, and methylene chloride was the better solvent. SPE/SFE had good recoveries for all compounds; SFE had less steps, less exposure to solvents, and less extraction time when placing the matrix directly into the extraction cell; however, recovery was less than SPE/SFE. LLE had the worst reproducibility and recovery. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Micro Sep 10: 125–131, 1998