By addressing new sample preparation techniques, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently implemented research programs to reduce or abolish laboratory pollution. In the work reported here, EPA Method 8270, established for Priority Pollutant Organics, will be evaluated by both Soxhlet and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) for two classifications of compounds.

The common procedure for sample preparation of solids is Soxhlet extraction. This is a lengthy operation and uses abundant solvent volumes. With ever changing times, the new technology of MAE is surfacing. This technique uses far less solvent and sample preparation times are greatly reduced. The work reported here compares the recoveries of phenolic and polynuclear aromatic compounds for both Soxhlet and closed-vessel MAE.