POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN WASTE-WATERS AND SEWAGE-SLUDGE - EXTRACTION AND CLEANUP FOR HPLC ANALYSIS WITH FLUORESCENCE DETECTION

A modified solid-phase extraction technique using sonication of the ad sorbent material instead of the elution normally applied has been comp ared with two conventional liquid-liquid extraction procedures for the determination of the 16 EPA PAHs in municipal waste waters by means o f HPLC coupled with fluorescence detection. Liquid-liquid extraction w ith cyclohexane proved to be the most efficient and simplest procedure . Clean-up of the waste-water extracts was not considered necessary, b ecause of the high chromatographic resolution of the column and the se lectivity of the fluorescence detector. Different organic solvents wer e also compared for ultrasonic extraction of PAHs from sewage sludge. The best results were obtained by use of acetonitrile. Clean-up of sew age-sludge extracts was not found necessary for accurate quantificatio n of the major PAH components with fluorescence detection. The precisi on of the whole analytical procedure from extraction to the final dete rmination of PAHs was satisfactory for both waste-water and sewage-slu dge samples.