Application of negligible and full depletion micro-extraction in environmental sciences

Negligible depletion micro-extraction (nd-ME) and full depletion micro-extraction (fd-ME) have been developed for specific purposes in environmental studies. Nd-ME is mainly designed to measure the free concentration and therefore evaluate the bioavailability of analytes in environmental matrices, and achieved by using large ratio of sample to extraction phase or extraction phase with low distribution coefficients for analytes. On the contrary, fd-ME is adopted to avoid matrix effects by determining the total amount of the analyte in the samples, and performed by using very low ratio of sample to extraction phase or extraction phase with extremely large distribution coefficients for analytes. In this review article, we highlight the basic concepts and applications of nd-ME and fd-ME in environmental sciences.