Hybrid field-assisted solid-liquid-solid dispersive extraction for the determination of organochlorine pesticides in tobacco with gas chromatography

A novel one-step sample preparation technique termed hybrid field-assisted solid-liquid-solid dispersive extraction (HF-SLSDE) was developed in this study. A simple glass system equipped with a condenser was designed as an extraction vessel. The HF-SLSDE technique was a three-phase dispersive extraction approach. Target analytes were extracted from the sample into the extraction solvent enhanced by the hybrid field. Meanwhile, the interfering components were adsorbed by dispersing sorbent. No cleanup step preceded chromatographic analysis. The efficiency of the HF-SLSDE approach was demonstrated in the determination of organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in tobacco with a gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD). Various operation conditions were studied systematically. Low detection limits (0.3-1.6 μg/kg) and low quantification limits (1.0-4.5 μg/kg) were achieved under the optimized conditions. The recoveries of OCPs ranged from 70.2% to 118.2%, with relative standard deviations of <9.6%, except for the lowest fortification level. Because of the effect of the hybrid field, HF-SLSDE showed significant predominance compared with other extraction techniques. The dispersing sorbent with good cleanup ability used in this study was also found to be a microwave absorption medium, which could heat the nonpolar extraction solvent under microwave irradiation. Different microstructures of tobacco samples before and after extractions demonstrated the mechanism of HF-SLSDE was based on an explosion at the cell level. According to the results, HF-SLSDE was proved to be a simple and effective sample preparation method for the analysis of pesticide residues in solid samples and could potentially be extended to other nonpolar target analytes in a complex matrix.