An evaluation of microextraction/capillary column gas chromatography for monitoring industrial outfalls

Microextraction and capillary-column gas chromatography techniques are applied to plant discharge streams for repetitive wastewater discharge permit analyses. This combination allows the analyst to reduce sample preparation since microextraction replaces both purge-and-trap for volatiles and microextraction for semi-volatiles. An additional advantage is the elimination of a concentration step, which is often a major contributor to low method recoveries. The overall procedure is shown to be more precise than purge-and-trap but slightly less precise than conventional extraction. The results of each method are shown to be equivalent.