Development of a single format membrane assisted solvent extraction-molecularly imprinted polymer technique for extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in wastewater followed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry determination.

A technique that combines membrane assisted solvent extraction and molecularly imprinted polymer into a single step format has been successfully developed and evaluated for the extraction of the 16 US-EPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in wastewater samples followed by determination using gas chromatography coupled with time of flight mass spectrometry. The technique involves placing the polymer particles into a hydrophobic polypropylene membrane bag which is in contact with an aqueous donor phase. The technique was optimized for various parameters that include presence of an organic modifier in the donor phase, stirring rate and extraction time.