Title: The use of solid sorbents for direct accumulation of organic compounds from water matrices–a review of solid‐phase extraction techniques
Abstract: Abstract The main principles of solid‐phase extraction techniques are reviewed in this paper. Various solid sorbents can be used as a suitable trap for direct accumulation of organic compounds from aqueous solutions. The trapped analytes can be desorbed by elution with suitably chosen liquid phases. These preconcentration procedures can be considered as low performance liquid chromatography and the efficiency of the procedure can thus be related to the retention characteristics of the preconcentration column. The main sorbents used for trace enrichment purposes are also reviewed. Besides, the concise methodology, sample storage, and automation are discussed. The advantages of solid phase extraction as compared to liquid‐liquid extraction are given as well as some drawbacks of this method.