Removal of sulfur from a solvent extract

The presence of sulfur in a solvent extract that is to be analyzed chromatographically impairs and sometimes precludes proper interpretation of the chromatogram, as the sulfur peak masks the peaks of other compounds present in the sample, and sulfur also disrupts the operation of the mass detector. This means that discrepancies in the results can lead to erroneous interpretations and false assessments of environmental risk. For this reason, sulfur should be removed from an extract prior to chromatographic analysis and determined in a separate analytical run using an appropriate procedure.This article presents a critical analysis of known methods for removing elemental sulfur from solvent extracts prior to the final determination step of chemicals in the group comprising polychlorinated biphenyls, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and polybrominated diphenyl ethers.