SAMPLING PERSISTENT ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN SEA-WATER

Extraction of persistent organic contaminants for sea water has, in th e past, been regarded as a relatively simple operation. However, our r ecent understanding of the kinetics as well as thermodynamics of the e xtraction of organochlorine residues has been matched by improvements in continuous liquid-liquid, solid-phase and pressurised extraction me thods. Validation and control of these methods have significantly redu ced the sources of error, mainly from contamination, to provide a more realistic estimate of these residues in the water column.