How to Overcome the Technical Hurdles of High-Throughput Sample Preparation for Environmental SVOC Analysis
Environmental laboratories are increasingly adopting the Biotage® Extrahera™ for automated solid phase extraction (SPE). Compared to traditional workflows, the Biotage® Extrahera™ delivers unprecedented throughput and significant solvent reduction, with reliable precision and accuracy. This presentation will demonstrate how laboratories can achieve measurable workflow improvements for two key environmental SVOC applications.
Extractable Petroleum Hydrocarbon (EPH) fractionation
For EPH fractionation, the dual-flow positive pressure technology of the Biotage® Extrahera™ combined with optimized ISOLUTE® EPH sorbent chemistry delivers consistently high recoveries for both aliphatic and aromatic analytes. This workflow also improves operational efficiency and provides:
- 20x solvent reduction
- 3x less SPE sorbent waste
- 16x boost in productivity
Recent shifts toward smaller sample sizes for the initial EPH extraction introduced new challenges in background contribution from the fraction step. This drove innovations such as automated sample tip cleaning, premium SPE consumables, and best practices to ensure the Biotage® Extrahera™ remained compliant with method blank reporting limits.
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) cleanups
The Biotage® Extrahera™ has also been extended to TPH cleanup workflows, removing polar interferences from soil, surface, ground, and wastewater extracts. Here too, the operational gains are striking:
- 40x solvent reduction
- 20x less SPE sorbent waste
- 8x boost in productivity
Challenges such as the liquid handling of pentane and broad-range hydrocarbon background elimination (C6 – C40) were addressed through careful workflow optimization.
What You’ll Learn
- Automated SPE optimization for EPH fractionation and TPH cleanup workflows
- Practical solutions to common technical and regulatory challenges
- Compliance strategy for high-throughput and reproducible results with Biotage® Extrahera™
Key Benefits:
- Reliable EPH fractionation into aromatic and aliphatic fractions with reduced sample volume method blanks <5 ppm (MADEP, C9–C18) and <1.8 ppm (RECAP, C16–C35), delivering 70–130% recoveries with high precision and no unwanted fraction breakthrough.
- Robust removal of polar interferences for TPH analysis, achieving method blanks 5 ppm (C6–C44), LCS recoveries >70% (C10–C28, C17–C44), and strong surrogate performance (n-octacosane).
- Practical strategies to improve lab operations through automation, solvent reduction, faster processing, optimized sorbent selection (ISOLUTE® EPH, ISOLUTE® SI), and best practices to minimize background contamination and carryover.
Presenter: Evan Walters (MSc) (Market Segment & Applications Manager, Biotage®)
Evan Walters is a Regional Market Segment & Applications Manager for Biotage and has been with the company for 8 years. He is passionate about science and analytical chemistry in the environmental, food, and agriculture market segments. He has previously held roles as an environmental chemist, geochemist, and technical sales representative. He received a Master of Science in Geochemistry from Southern Illinois University.
