Chemometric tools applied to optimize a fast solid-phase microextraction method for analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in produced water

Solvent-Free Determination of Selected Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Plant Material Used for Food Supplements Preparation: Optimization of a Solid Phase Microextraction Method

“…However, even in this modified domain, PAHs with MM above 252 Da (indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene (IcdPY), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DahA) and benzo[g,h,i]perylene (BghiPE)) were not detected in all the experiments, thus generating poor models. The positive effect of higher T EXP for the sorption of H-PAHs onto PDMS fibers has been already reported [ 21 , 35 ] and is probably due to their lower vapor pressure, requiring higher temperature to pass to the vapor phase. On the other hand, too-high temperatures generally favor the analytes’ desorption, since the sorption onto the fiber is an exothermic process [ 40 ].…”

“…As mentioned, during the first set of experiments, the H-PAHs (specifically BaA, CHR, BbF, BkF, and BaPY) were detected in only two experiments. In these trials, both T EXP and t EXP were at the highest level, thus suggesting the further investigation of only these two variables by modifying the domain toward higher values [ 21 ]. Therefore, as indicated in Section 3.3 , the range investigated for T EXP was moved from 40–70 °C to 80–100 °C, while t EXP was explored in the range of 60–90 min (prior range 20–50 min).…”

“…This is probably the reason why, for the heaviest PAHs (IcdPY, DahA, and BghiPE), none of the tested conditions produced efficient extraction [ 41 ]. Few methods for these PAHs using the same fiber material in HS mode can be found in the literature [ 21 , 35 ] and they generally refer to water samples. It must be noted that the interactions occurring among the analytes and the bud surface may have a strong influence on the passage of the heaviest analytes to the vapor phase.…”

“…It has been applied to the analysis of PAHs in several matrices, both in immersion and head space (HS) modes [ 19 ]. The vast majority of the works regard water samples, with a range of diverse coatings tested, such as the conventional polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) [ 20 , 21 ] or novel materials such as graphitic carbon nitride [ 22 ], carbon nanotubes [ 23 ], and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) [ 24 , 25 ]. Regarding plant matrices, HS-SPME has been widely employed for a range of compounds, especially those giving the aromatic profiles [ 26 ].…”