COMPARISON OF ACCELERATED SOLVENT-EXTRACTION WITH MICROWAVE-ASSISTED EXTRACTION AND SOXHLET FOR THE EXTRACTION OF CHLORINATED BIPHENYLS IN SOIL SAMPLES

The extraction and determination of chlorinated biphenyls (CBs) in soi ls and solid wastes is an ongoing subject of study. This is an overvie w article that compares the microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ac celerated solvent extraction (ASE) techniques. The extraction of CBs b y ASE has been optimised taking into account the variation of pressure , temperature and extraction time by means of experimental design and the Simplex approach. The recoveries obtained under the optimum condit ions are compared and discussed with those obtained from MAE and Soxhl et extractions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.