Trace analysis of persistent organic pollutants in the air using accelerated solvent extraction

During the last decade, the occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has drawn great attention because of their high rates of production and consumption, their considerable environmental persistence, toxic potential, high levels of bioaccumulation and harmful biological effects including their mutagenic and carcinogenic properties (Fernández and Grimalt 2003).Important groups of POPs include: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and halogenated hydrocarbons such as organchlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (Ritter et al.1995).Because of their hydrophobicity and resistance to degradation, they are widely distributed in the various components of the environment (Potrykus et al.2003).The atmosphere has been regarded as the major pathway for the global distribution of POPs (Koziol and Pudykiewicz 2001).Consequently, the characterization of POPs in air has been subjected to intensive study world-wide in order to assess their environmental fate and human exposure (Liu et al.2005).