Solid-phase extraction, a currently developing technology may be used for environmental sample preparation. The present methodology of liquid/liquid extraction is not practical in the field. Many investigators have studied solid-phase extraction. However, these works are limited to narrow classes of compounds. No overall methodology is available for preparing a sample contaminated with multiple classes of compounds (i.e., priority pollutants, acids, pesticides, herbicides, etc.). An overall methodology would be developed for preparing environmental samples contaminated with "non-volatiles" applicable to both soils and waters. This development would include establishing recoveries of spiked compounds from various matrices. The novelty of this development would be the ability to extract non-volatiles from solid matrices under field conditions and enable reduction of large solvent use for sample preparation, thus reducing waste generation by labs (i.e., small generators).
