Vortex-assisted extraction combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment by high performance liquid chromatography

A simple, rapid, and efficient method, vortex-assisted extraction followed by dispersive liquidliquid microextraction (DLLME) has been developed for the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment samples prior to analysis by high performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection. Acetonitrile was used as collecting solvent for the extraction of PAHs from sediment by vortex-assisted extraction. In DLLME, PAHs were rapidly transferred from acetonitrile to dichloromethane. Under the optimum conditions, the method yields a linear calibration curve in the concentration range from 10 to 2100 ng g-1 for fluorene, anthracene, chrysene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, and benzo[a]pyrene, and 20 to 2100 ng g-1 for other target analytes. Coefficients of determinations ranged from 0.9986 to 0.9994. The limits of detection, based on signal-to-noise ratio of three, ranged from 2.3 to 6.8 ng g-1. Reproducibility and recoveries was assessed by extracting a series of six independent sediment samples, which were spiked with different concentration levels. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied in analyses of real nature sediment samples. The proposed method extended and improved the application of DLLME to solid samples, which greatly shorten the extraction time and simplified the extraction process.