Introduction:

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons are molecules with two or more fused aromatic rings with recognized mutagenic and carcinogenic capacity, they have low water solubility and high solubility in organic solvents. The Center for Environmental Studies of Cienfuegos has a validated method, according with Cuban standards, to determine these compounds in marine sediments, which uses Soxhlet extraction.

Objective:

The aim of this work is to evaluate the substitution of Soxhlet extraction procedure by ultrasound extraction, which is a more efficient method in terms of energy consumption, solvent volumes, extraction time and number of samples to could be analyzed.

Materials and Methods:

Comparative tests were carried out by Soxhlet extraction and ultrasonic bath, eight samples in each case, to a certified reference material. PAH content was determined by a gas chromatograph (SHIMADZU) GC-2007 with flame ionization detector (FID). It was proceeded in accordance to Cuban standards related to analytical methods validation and verification, that is, to evaluate precision and veracity parameters for each extraction procedure, by means of variance analysis (ANOVA).

Results and Discussion:

Results revealed that there were no significant differences between the two extraction procedures in terms of precision and veracity.

Conclusions:

Soxhlet extraction can be substituted by ultrasound-assisted extraction to determine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine sediments.

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