Thesis Title: Analysis of organochlorinated pesticides in water and fruit samples by applying headspace solid phase microextraction under vacuum conditions

Thursday 4 October 2018, at:10:00, Venue: Hall Κ2. Α7

Examination Committee

• Professor Elia Psillakis (advisor)
• Professor Nicolas Kalogerakis
• Dr. Konstantina Tyrovola

Abstract:

In recent years, more and more researchers have been dealing with the major issue of environmental pollution. In particular, pollutants occurring in small concentrations are dangerous not only for the environment and ecosystems, but also for human health. This study proposes the use of the headspace solid phase microextraction under vacuum conditions (vacuum assisted headspace solid phase microextraction: Vac-HSSPME) for the analysis of organochlorinated pesticides. This method achieves rapid extraction and as a process is simple and fast to apply as it requires small sample volumes. The parameters studied were temperature and extraction time. The optimum conditions for Vac-HSSPME and for Regular HSSPME were found to be the temperature of 55℃ and optimum extraction time for Vac-HSSPME was found to be 30 minutes and for Regular HSSPME 45 minutes. The method showed very good linearity in both vacuum and atmospheric pressure conditions. The range of concentrations studied is 0,5-50 ng/L. The repeatability of the method was considered good too. The Vac-HSSPME method compared to Regular HSSPME has higher extraction efficiency, greater sensitivity and requires less extraction time to achieve the same result.