Chlorobiphenyls in sewage sludge; comparison of extraction methods

Six extraction methods for the analysis of PCBs (CB-28, CB-52, CB-101, CB-118, CB-138, CB-153 and CB-180) in sewage sludge were tested. A certified reference material (CRM 392) was used for the evaluation of the performance of the methods. Soxhlet-Dean-Starch with toluene as solvent, Soxhlet with hexane:acetone (2:3), cold digestion/saponification with 2 mol/L KOH in methanol followed by partition with hexane, and sonicated liquid-solid extraction with hexane:acetone (1:1) produced accurate results (97%, 93%, 104%, and 88%, respectively) with acceptable precisions (6.2%, 6.8%, 15% and 12%, respectively). Results in close agreement with the certified value for all congeners were obtained by treatment with BF₃-methanol prior to partition with dichloromethane. However, this is a tedious procedure and involves the use of hazardous compounds. Cyclic steam distillation produced results with an accuracy of around 80% and a good precision (5.2%). The very low consumption of solvents and other expensive chemicals by this technique and the possibility of analyzing the extract directly without clean-up make it an interesting alternative to the more sophisticated methods. Column elution with dichloromethane was found to be less efficient (61%), but it is a rapid, direct method with a low consumption of solvents and it may therefore serve as screening method. Received: 29 April 1997 / Revised: 30 July 1997 / Accepted: 6 August 1997     

Prediction of solvents extraction-the organochlorine pesticides in soil using solubility parameter

Prediction of the optimal extraction solvent based on the solubility parameter to extract the typical organochlorine pesticides from Jiangxi red soil was reported in this paper. Hildebrand solubility parameters, including dispersion coefficient (δ_d), polarity (δ_p) and hydrogen bonding (δ_h), of extraction solvents (including hexane, dichloromethane, hexane/methanol (4:1, v/v), hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v), hexane/dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) and organochlorine pesticides were calculated using group contribution method. The solvents, such as hexane/methanol (4:1, v/v) and hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v) were selected as ideal extraction solvents to extract o,p′-DDT o,p′-DDE and o,p′-DDD with high recoveries (>82%), furthermore, these solvents can be used to extract α-endosulfan, Endrin and HCB with the reliable recoveries (>75%). The estimated finding by solubility parameters was supported by the results of soxhlet extraction.     

Evaluation of Extraction Procedures of Organochlorine Pesticides from Natural Waters and Sediments

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate different procedures for the extraction of organochlorine pesticides (OCP's) from natural waters and sediments. In the case of extraction from water, a C18 disk solid-phase extraction method was employed. Recovery experiments in the range of 40 to 200 ng/l with selected organochlorine compounds resulted in average recoveries between 80 and 100%. Four different solvents, hexane, ethyl acetate, acetonitrile and methanol, were tested as eluting agents. Best recoveries were obtained with ethyl acetate and hexane. A comparative study of OCP sediment extraction procedures was performed employing sonication, Soxhlet extraction and shake-flask methods. The capacity of these methods to recover OCP's from a sediment sample fortified at 50 ng/g was evaluated using hexane : acetone (1:1 v/v), hexane: acetone (8:2 v/v), acetonitrile and dichlorometane. The three extraction techniques gave similar results and dichloromethane was the most effective solvent. The optimised methods were applied in the analysis of waters and sediments from the “Aiguamolls de l'Empordà” Nature Park, Girona (Spain).     

The determination of polychlorinated biphenyl in small samples of monkey milk and tissues. II. Extraction efficiency

The extraction efficiency of benzene, toluene, dichloromethane, acetone:hexane and chloroform:methanol with respect to lipids and polychlorinated biphenyls was investigated using small samples of monkey adipose tissue, liver, kidney, brain, skin, feces and milk. The most efficient solvents were: acetone:hexane and chloroform:methanol for brain, feces, kidney, liver and milk; acetone:hexane and dichloromethane for adipose tissue; acetone:hexane and toluene for blood and dichloromethane for skin tissue. Within these solvent pairs acetone:hexane was the most outstanding with respect to an average of 90% PCB recoveries from fortified samples in the range of 0.02-2 ppm. In addition, a comparison was made between the lipid determination before and after Florisil column chromatography. Only adipose and blood lipids were sufficiently recovered from Florisil to make a lipid determination after chromatography feasible.     

Pyrethroid soil extraction,properties of mixed solvents and time profiles using GC/MS-NICI analysis

Ultrasonic extraction was used to develop a suitable binary solvent system for the analysis of synthetic pyrethroid pesticides and mirex on soil. The analysis was carried out by gas chromatography with negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry (GC/MS-NICI). In the initial experiments, accurately weighed soil samples were spiked with a mixture of standard solution pyrethroids and mirex and shaken for 24?h to ensure homogeneity, then extracted with solvent. The extracts were evaporated to dryness before the volumetric internal standard was added.

The binary solvents used in this study were various mixtures of hexane?:?acetone, hexane?:?dichloromethane (DCM), isooctane?:?acetone and isooctane?:?dichloromethane, representing different classes of polarity. The recoveries of all pyrethroids and mirex were satisfactory over three solvent systems: hexane?:?acetone, hexane?:?DCM and isooctane?:?acetone, but results of isooctane?:?DCM produced low recoveries. The average recovery increased with the extraction time, but the increase was not statistically significant. A 30-min optimum extraction was deemed sufficient for recovering pyrethroids from soil. After 30?min, extraction decreased owing to the re-distribution of the analyte on the soil matrix.     

Chemical composition of mate tea leaves (Ilex paraguariensis): a study of extraction methods

The objective of this work was to investigate the extraction of Ilex paraguariensis leaves by means of three extraction techniques: pressurized liquid extraction (PLE, also called accelerated solvent extraction – ASE), maceration, and sonication. Samples of mate tea leaves were collected from an experiment conducted under agronomic control at Indústria e Comércio de Erva‐Mate Bar?o LTDA, Brazil. Six solvents with increasing polarities (n‐hexane, toluene, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, acetone, and methanol) were used in this investigation. Chemical analysis of the extracts was performed by GC coupled with a mass spectrometer detector. The identification and quantification were accomplished by coinjections of certified standards. The results showed that no significant differences in the qualities of the extracts were noticed regarding the extraction methods. On the other hand, the PLE technique was found to be more effective for the extractions of caffeine, phytol, palmitic, and stearic acid. The use of PLE led to a significant decrease in the total extraction time, amount of solvent consumption, and manipulation of samples compared to maceration and ultrasound‐assisted extraction methods.     

Statistical mixture design investigation of fractionated and total extracts from Erythrina speciosa Andrews leaves

The simplex centroid mixture design for the ethanol, dichloromethane, hexane and acetone solvents has been applied to the extraction of crude mass and the fiber, organic, neutral and basic fractions as well as the fractionation residues of Erythrina speciosa Andrews leaves. Binary and ternary synergic solvent interactions are seen to provide dominant contributions to the extraction of both crude mass and all the fractions. Quadratic and special cubic mixture models precisely predict the extracted quantities of each fraction and the residue as a function of the proportions of the four solvents. Different solvent mixtures are found to be the most efficient extractors for the different fractions: binary dichloromethane‐hexane mixtures for the fiber fraction, ternary ethanol‐dichloromethane‐acetone mixtures for the neutral fraction, binary ethanol‐dichloromethane mixtures for the organic fraction, crude extract and residue values and ternary ethanol‐dichloromethane‐hexane mixtures for the basic fraction. Principal component analysis shows that the ethanol‐dichloromethane mixtures are important for extracting large quantities of the basic and organic fractions as well as of the residue and crude masses.     

Recovery efficiency of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin from active carbon and other particulates

The use of Amoco active carbon (grade PX-21) as a cleanup step for the determination of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in environmental samples was investigated. Benzene/toluene (1:1) removed 95% TCDD from Amoco active carbon dispersed in silica gel. Other solvents, including benzene, carbon disulfide, dichloromethane, acetone, hexane, acetone/hexane (1:1), and diethyl ether, did not remove TCDD from Amoco active carbon. o-Dichlorobenzene is needed to remove TCDD from Pittsburgh active carbon completely. Hot benzene with Soxhlet extraction is adequate for TCDD removal from soil and fly ash particulates. The results derived from this study are consistent with past and present analytical practice for isolating TCDD from different matrices.     

A cost effective,sensitive, and environmentally friendly sample preparation method for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in solid samples

A simple, cost effective, and yet sensitive sample preparation technique was investigated for determining Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in solid samples. The method comprises ultrasonic extraction, Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE), and thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to increase analytical capacity in laboratories. This method required no clean-up, satisfied PAHs recovery, and significantly advances cost performance over conventional extraction methods, such as Soxhlet and Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE). This study evaluated three operational parameters for ultrasonic extraction: solvent composition, extraction time, and sample load. A standard material, SRM 1649 a (urban dust), was used as the solid sample matrix, and 12 priority PAHs on the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) list were analyzed. Combination of non-polar and polar solvents ameliorated extraction efficiency. Acetone/hexane mixtures of 2:3 and 1:1 (v/v) gave the most satisfactory results: recoveries ranged from 63.3% to 122%. Single composition solvents (methanol, hexane, and dichloromethane) showed fewer recoveries. Comparing 20 min with 60 min sonication, longer sonication diminished extraction efficiencies in general. Furthermore, sample load became a critical factor in certain solvent systems, particularly MeOH. MAE was also compared to the ultrasonic extraction, and results determined that the 20-min ultrasonic extraction using acetone/hexane (2:3, v/v) was as potent as MAE. The SBSE method using 20 mL of 30% alcohol-fortified solution rendered a limit of detection ranging from 1.7 to 32 ng L⁻¹ and a limit of quantitation ranging from 5.8 to 110 ng L⁻¹ for the 16 US EPA PAHs.     

Evaluation of Liquid–Liquid Extraction Methods for Determining the Levels of Lipids and Organochlorine Pollutants in Human Milk

Organic chlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls are organic pollutants that are stored in the adipose tissues of humans. The concentrations of those pollutants in human milk have previously been utilized as a biomarker for monitoring the body burden of lipophilic pollutants in humans. Liquid–liquid extraction methods have been applied to lipids, chlorinated pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls from breast milk. In this study, the effectiveness of four extraction methods, which have been widely used to isolate fats and organic pollutants from milk, were compared. The organic solvents included hexane, hexane/acetone (2:1, v/v), ethanol/ethyl ether/hexane (2:3:4, v/v), and methanol/chloroform (1:1, v/v). These results demonstrated that hexane yields the lowest extraction recoveries for lipids (approximately 21.3%) and analytes (approximately 50%). The other three organic solvents demonstrated better performance in extracting the target compounds, with the ethanol/ethyl ether/hexane system showing the optimum efficiency. The optimized system was employed to determine the analytes in human milk.     

Determination of pentachlorophenol in wastewater irrigated soils and incubated earthworms

The analyses of low pentachlorophenol (PCP) in soils and earthworms require a sensitive and reliable analytical method. In this paper, several derivatization methods and extraction solvents were compared systematically. The derivatization reagents included acetic anhydride, 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl bromide (PFBBr) and diazomethane. Hexane, acetone, hexane–acetone (1:1), dichloromethane and methanol were used as the extraction solvents. PFBBr derivatization showed the highest sensitivity. The derivatization parameters of PFBBr including the amount of PFBBr, the power and irradiation time of microwave were optimized. As a result, 200 μl of PFBBr (10%) at 150 W of microwave oven for 30 min achieved the best result. The PFBBr derivatization method had the detection limit of 0.07 μg l⁻¹ of PCP. Extraction by a mixture of hexane and acetone (1:1) showed the best recoveries. The recommended method was used to determine the low PCP in soils irrigated by wastewater and earthworms incubated in the corresponding soils. The concentrations of PCP in soils were in the range of 1.38–179 ng g⁻¹, while those in earthworms were 11.2–262 ng g⁻¹. The recoveries of the surrogate standard (trichlorophenol) ranged from 81.1% to 107%, demonstrating the merit of the method.     

Selective polymeric effects on solvent NMR relaxations

Measurements of the spin-lattice relaxation times (T₁) of solvent protons have been performed on systems containing mixed solvents with and without polymer. It has been found that the motion of solvent is selectively affected by polymers present in the system. Polyisobutylene (10%) in mixed solvents of carbon tetrachloride (or cyclohexane) and dichloromethane at various proportions produces little effect on T₁ values of dichloromethane, but it affects significantly the T₁ values of cyclohexane; whereas poly(methyl methacrylate) (10%) in carbon tetrachloride and dichloromethane (or acetone) selectively associates with dichloromethane (or acetone), resulting in an approximate 50% reduction of the T₁ values for dichloromethane (or acetone). In systems of poly(methyl methacrylate) and three mixed solvents of carbon tetrachloride, dichloromethane, and cyclohexane, the polymer (10%) has a negligible effect on the T₁ values of cyclohexane, but brings about a 50% reduction of the T₁ values of dichloromethane. These phenomena are discussed in terms of local selective interactions between the solvent molecules and the polymeric chain segments.     

Extraction of Residues of Dyfonate-ring-14C from Soil

Abstract

Residues of Dyfonate-ring-¹⁴C were extracted from a clay loam soil with various solvents under a variety of conditions. Recovery of radioactivity from the soil was not related to the polarity (dipole moment) or the dielectric constant of the solvents. Commonly used solvents such as acetone, methanol, ethanol, and hexane/acetone (1:1) extracted only 28, 44, 27, and 25%, respectively, of the residues from the air-dried soil. The extraction efficiencies were increased to 46, 60, 54, and 49%, respectively, when 20% water was added to the soil prior to extraction with these solvents. The amount of water added to the soil and time of contact with water also affected the recovery of radioactivity from the soil. Any of the solvents or methods investigated failed to recover more than 60% of the radioactivity in the soil, indicating that residues of Dyfonate were strongly bound to the soil and were difficult to recover.     

Sediment Matrix Induced Response Enhancement in the Gas Chromatographic–Mass Spectrometric Quantification of Insecticides in Four Different Solvent Extracts from Ultrasonic and Soxhlet Extraction

The performance of ultrasonic and Soxhlet extraction using hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate/methyl-tert-butylether (1/3, v/v) and hexane/acetone (1/1, v/v) for the analysis of seventeen insecticides in sediments was evaluated. The contents of the extracts differed severely. The extracts obtained with ethylacetate/methyl-tert-butylether (1/3, v/v) and hexane/acetone (1/1, v/v) were dark yellow to green, whereas the extracts obtained with dichloromethane and hexane were light yellow and clear respectively. This is due to higher solubility of matrix compounds in ethylacetate/methyl-tert-butylether (1/3, v/v) and hexane/acetone (1/1, v/v). High loads of coextracted matrix compounds lead to matrix effects in the evaporation step of GC–MS measurements. This is known as matrix induced response enhancement effect. Matrix effects and recoveries were checked by analysis of spiked sediments. The suitable choice of extraction method in connection with an appropriate solvent separates the analytes from matrix compounds. Matrix effects are reduced and recoveries of spiked samples are improved.Revised: 6 January and 2 May 2005     

微波萃取技术

介绍了在气相／液相色谱测定前的一种新的样品制备技术——微波萃取技术及其所使用的试剂、设备和条件。通过一些数据以及与Ｓｏｘｈｌｅｔ法、超声萃取法比较说明,微波萃取是一种快速、试剂用量少、回收率高、灵敏以及易于自动控制的方法。     

Influence of the extraction methodology on the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in pasture vegetation

Pasture vegetation plays an important role in the air-surface exchange and food chain transfer of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Therefore, considerable research has been focused towards measuring PAHs in vegetation using different analytical methods. However, in most cases information on the efficiencies of the different extraction methods employed is missing. This complicates data interpretation and inter-study comparisons. To address this deficiency, the extraction efficiencies of two commonly used pasture vegetation extraction techniques (sonication and soxhlet) and different solvents (hexane, DCM and hexane:acetone [4:1, v/v]) were compared. The completeness of the extraction was investigated using alkaline saponification in methanol. Soxhlet extraction was able to access between 60 and 90% of the total amount of PAHs in the pasture vegetation. Sonication was less efficient, only being able to extract between 10 and 50% of the PAHs. Extraction efficiencies were found to increase with increasing PAH molecular weight. The implications of these findings on data interpretation are discussed.     

Synthetic oligomer analysis using atmospheric pressure photoionization mass spectrometry at different photon energies

Atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) followed by mass spectrometric detection was used to ionize a variety of polymers: polyethylene glycol, polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene, and polysiloxane. In most cases, whatever the polymer or the solvent used (dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, hexane, acetone or toluene), only negative ion mode produced intact ions such as chlorinated adducts, with no or few fragmentations, in contrast to the positive ion mode that frequently led to important in-source fragmentations. In addition, it was shown that optimal detection of polymer distributions require a fine tuning of other source parameters such as temperature and ion transfer voltage. Series of mass spectra were recorded in the negative mode, in various solvents (dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, hexane, toluene, and acetone), by varying the photon energy from 8 eV up to 10.6 eV using synchrotron radiation. To these solvents, addition of a classical APPI dopant (toluene or acetone) was not necessary. Courtesy of the synchrotron radiation, it was demonstrated that the photon energy required for an efficient ionization of the polymer was correlated to the ionization energy of the solvent. As commercial APPI sources typically use krypton lamps with energy fixed at 10 eV and 10.6 eV, the study of the ionization of polymers over a wavelength range allowed to confirm and refine the previously proposed ionization mechanisms. Moreover, the APPI source can efficiently be used as an interface between size exclusion chromatography or reverse phase liquid chromatography and MS for the study of synthetic oligomers. However, the photoionization at fixed wavelength of polymer standards with different molecular weights showed that it was difficult to obtain intact ionized oligomers with molecular weights above a few thousands.     

Improved Method for the Determination of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in Sanitary Napkins

Abstract

An improved method was developed for determining highly toxic 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-furans (PCDD/Fs) in sanitary napkins. Samples were extracted by Soxhlet (50% dichloromethane/hexane) and sonication (hexane), and a multi-layer silica column was used for clean-up after acetone precipitation to separate the superabsorbent polymers. Improved separation efficiency of PCDD/Fs from sanitary napkins with a high level of superabsorbent polymers was achieved using the acetone precipitation method. Hexane was then applied as an alternative solvent to remove residual interfering substances including sticky components contained on sanitary napkins via alumina column chromatography in the second clean-up step. Recoveries approached 100% with an average relative standard deviation of less than 15%, and recoveries of internal standards were from 70.5 to 114.8% and 0.6 to 13.6% for the two extraction methods. The mean method detection limit was 0.075–0.968?pg/g for Soxhlet extraction and 0.0032–0.091?pg/g for sonication extraction. The established method meets the quality criteria for the screening of dioxins stated in EU Regulations 589/2014 and 709/2014, and therefore provides a suitable alternative for the determination of dioxins in sanitary napkins containing superabsorbent polymers.     

Multiresidue analysis of pesticides in fruits and vegetables using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatographic methods

A new extraction and cleanup procedure with gas chromatography was developed for the sensitive determination of acephate, dimethoate, malathion, diazinon, quinalphos, chlorpyrifos, profenofos, alpha-endosulfan, beta-endosulfan, chlorothalonil and carbaryl using 1-chloro-4-fluorobenzene as an internal standard in fruits and vegetables. Several extracting and eluting solvents for solid-phase extraction were investigated. The overall extracting solvent with a mixture of acetone:ethyl acetate:hexane (10:80:10, v/v/v) and a eluting solvent of 5% acetone in hexane used with the RPC18 cartridge gave the best recovery for all of the investigated pesticides, and minimized the interference from co-extractants. Under the optimal extraction and clean-up conditions, recoveries of 85 - 99% with RSD < 5.0% (n = 3) for most of the pesticides at the 0.02 - 0.5 mg/kg level were obtained. The limit of detection was between 0.005 - 0.01 mg/kg and the limit of quantification was 0.01 mg/kg. This analytical procedure was characterized with high accuracy and acceptable sensitivity to meet requirements for monitoring pesticides in crops.     

大米中多种残留农药的固相萃取-气相色谱-质谱分析

建立了一种同时测定大米中有机氯、有机磷、氨基甲酸酯和拟除虫菊酯等4类农药残留量的分析方法。通过比较二氯甲烷、三氯甲烷、乙腈、乙酸乙酯和不同比例的己烷-丙酮混合溶剂等8种溶剂的提取效果,选择以二氯甲烷为提取溶剂;以Florisil固相萃取小柱净化,通过以不同比例的己烷-丙酮作洗脱溶剂,发现体积比为4∶1的己烷-丙酮的洗脱效果最佳,在选定的洗脱条件下,样品的净化效果良好;用气相色谱-质谱测定,以保留时间、选择离子及其相对丰度定性,以外标法定量。以低限加标样品的3倍信噪比确定方法的检出限(LODs),以两个添加水平测定样品的回收率和相对标准偏差(RSD)。该方法的检出限达到μg/kg水平;除敌敌畏、乐果、pp′-DDT等几种农药外,大多数农药的加标回收率在75%和120%之间,RSD均低于10.4%,r≥0.992。该方法简便、快速、灵敏,能够满足同时测定大米中多种类残留农药的要求,可以作为大米中农药多残留的例行分析和确证分析的方法。