Comparison of different extraction methods for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil

Two different extraction methods for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil are compared: the extraction in combination with ultrasonic treatment, and the Soxhlet extraction method according to DIN-draft 38414 Part 21. Different types of real soil were extracted and analysed by HPLC with diode-array detector and fluorescence detection. The results show that the efficiency of the ultrasonic method is comparable to the Soxhlet method.