title: Automated liquid-solid extraction of pyrene from soil on centrifugal microfluidic devices.
abstract: Organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are present in the environment in increasing concentrations and so are of growing concern. Monitoring these species, particularly on-site, can be both difficult and expensive. This paper presents a novel miniaturised magnetically actuated liquid-solid extraction unit integrated in tandem with a filtration unit and a detection unit on a single centrifugal microfluidic device. A demonstration analyte, pyrene, was rapidly extracted and quantified by UV-absorbance from multiple soil samples. The system showed excellent performance for a system designed for field use. Characterization of two types of passive valves was performed along with an extraction time efficiency study. The system provides a factor of 150 reduction in sample weights and extraction solvent volumes and provides statistically similar recoveries to the conventional method with a pyrene detection limit of 1 ppm (0.03 microg absolute detection limit). The reduction in time and solvent and the potential for field use suggest that this device type may be valuable for environmental monitoring.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China. yongqing.xi@mail.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Yongqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Duford
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Salin
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation; D002498:Centrifugation; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D011721:Pyrenes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011721:Pyrenes; D012989:Soil Pollutants