Current use of pressurised liquid extraction and subcritical water extraction in environmental analysis

This review updates our knowledge about pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) and subcritical water extraction (SWE), two sample preparation techniques which are increasingly used for the extraction of moderately and non-volatile organic pollutants from a variety of solid and semi-solid environmental matrices. Parameters influencing the extraction yield and selectivity are discussed. The results deriving from the analysis of several different classes of compounds in a variety of matrices are compared with a reference method, e.g., Soxhlet extraction. PLE and SWE are both promising techniques due to the short extraction times and low solvent consumption. In addition, SWE offers a wide range of polarities by changing the temperature and can easily provide class-selective extraction by temperature programming and/or the addition of modifier(s). This indicates that, even though many applications have already been reported, more can be expected.