REVERSE-PHASE EXTRACTION OF ARENES AND NITROARENES IN ENVIRONMENTAL-SAMPLES

The extraction recoveries of 24 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitro-derivatives (N-PAHs) standards, ranging from naphtalene (M = 128) to benzo(ghi)perilene (M = 276), and from 1-nitronaphtalene (M = 173) to 3-nitrofluoranthene (M = 247), were determined by solid phase extraction (SPE) on the octadecyl adsorbent phases. The recovery procedure hag been applied to three environmental samples of different nature: urban dusts, residual of incinerator and soil. The results show that it is possible, under controlled conditions, to obtain reproducible, high percentage recovery, especially for PAH. The C18 phase was proven to be useful for the clean-up of the two classes of pollutants. SPE was faster than the traditional clean-up procedures.