Solid Phase Extraction of Polar Compounds in Water

The Water and Food Analytical Laboratory, at the Johnson Space Center is developing an alternative to EPA Method 625 for analyzing semivolatile organic compounds in water. The current EPA method uses liquid-liquid extraction. The alternative method being developed differs in the sample preparation phase by replacing gravity-dependent liquid-liquid extraction with solid phase extraction (SPE). The ultimate goal is to incorporate the optimum SPE conditions into an automated sample preparation process. The method shows promise with regard to anticipated polar compounds. Fourteen SPE resins and nine elution solvents were compared. For typical analytes encountered by our laboratory, a styrene-divinylbenzene SPE resin and an elution solvent mixture of methylene chloride and ethyl ether were found to give the highest extraction recoveries. A study is in progress to remove water from the extracts before GC/MS analysis.