OPTIMIZATION OF MICROWAVE-ASSISTED SOLVENT-EXTRACTION OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN MARINE-SEDIMENTS USING A MICROWAVE EXTRACTION SYSTEM WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY FLUORESCENCE DETECTION AND GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

In the present study, a microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) t echnique using a microwave extraction system (MES) has been developed for the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from mar ine sediment. The optimum MASE conditions can be obtained by performin g the mixed-level orthogonal array design (OAD) procedure. A compariso n between the Soxhlet extraction method and the MASE technique showed that although both techniques gave comparable results on certified ref erence materials (CRM) HS-4 and HS-6, the MASE technique allows the us e of less solvent and is also time-saving and cost-effective without a ffecting its extraction efficiency. The optimum MASE technique was cou pled to two analytical techniques: high-performance liquid chromatogra phy (HPLC) with both ultraviolet (UV) and fluorescence detectors and g as chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the qualitative and qu antitative screening of PAHs in CRM and ''real world'' samples. Recove ries of PAHs from two CRMs were all above 73.3%. The concentration of PAHs in marine sediment collected from primary industrial areas was be tween 0.03 and 0.35 mu g/g on a dry weight basis.