A continuous liquid‐liquid extraction system coupled on‐line with capillary gas chromatography for environmental and ecotoxicological analysis

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Abstract
The applicability of a liquid‐liquid extraction system which is coupled on‐line with a capillary gas chromatograph was studied for environmental and ecotoxicological analyses. The optimized and automated system was used for the determination of apolar and rather non‐volatile organic compounds in aqueous samples. Relevant aspects of sample introduction, phase separation and selection of extraction solvent are discussed. Three routine‐tipe applications are described, viz. an improved method for the determination of hexachlorocyclohexanes in ground water and the determination of the so‐called NCC‐ether and ACC‐ether in ecotoxicological studies. Depending on the application studied, the concentration levels varied from 0.1 to 6000 μg/I, using ECD and/or FID detection. Typical coefficients of variation obtained with the total extraction–GC procedure were 2–25%.The system was found to be rugged, it saves time compared with set‐ups involving off‐line liquid‐liquid extraction and considerably reduces the manual work load.