Water and Air pollution
Environmentally friendly, solvent-free techniques for air and water analysis.
No living organism on Earth can survive without water. Analysis methods to detect traces of organic contaminants in water samples usually include extraction and enrichment stages in order to adhere the limits of detection (LODs) stipulated in the regulations.
Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) is a widely used technique in this. However, it requires a lot of work as well as a great deal of organic solvent and is therefore not very environmentally friendly.
An alternative extraction method is solid phase extraction (SPE) which consumes significantly less solvent. However, this method also entails steps requiring a great deal of work and these can be disadvantageous in terms of recovery and repeatability.
Solid phase extraction performed automatically with the GERSTEL MultipurposeSampler (MPS) largely eliminates these disadvantages. The MPS is versatile and can be adapted to individual requirements and automates the necessary sample preparation steps. In addition, other sample preparation steps such as standard additions, derivatization, solvent evaporation and even online injection can be integrated in the process.
All steps, including the overlapping of preparation and analysis, are controlled by the GERSTEL MAESTRO software.
Miniaturized extraction techniques are used to achieve higher levels of proof sensitivity or if only a small sample quantity is available. These can be, e.g. sorptive extraction with the GERSTEL Twister (Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE)) or a carbon net impregnated with a sorptive phase (Thin Film TF-SPME).
These more environmentally friendly, solvent-free techniques enable the extraction and concentration of the analytes in one step. The analytes collected with the extraction medium is analyzed by means of its complete desoprtion.