SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION COUPLED WITH GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF AROMA COMPOUNDS ABSORBED BY LOW-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Supercritical carbon dioxide was used for extracting aroma compounds absorbed by low-density polyethylene. The extraction step was directly coupled with gas chromatography. The method yielded recoveries and reproducibilities similar to those obtained by a conventional liquid solvent extraction. The standard deviation ranged from 3 to 10% for the different species. The main advantages with the new method are that it requires less sample, it is less laborious, and it is performed much more rapidly than already existing methods. A complete extraction/analysis is accomplished in one single step and in less than 40 min.