Easy, fast and environmental friendly method for the simultaneous extraction of the 16 EPA PAHs using magnetic molecular imprinted polymers (mag-MIPs)

•Magnetic molecular imprinted polymers (mag-MIPs) used for the simultaneous extraction of 16 PAHs.•Lower organic solvent consumption and lower detection limits than Official Methods.•Procedure applied to the simultaneous determination of 16 U.S.EPA PAHs in water samples.

An easy and environmental friendly method, based on the use of magnetic molecular imprinted polymers (mag-MIPs) is proposed for the simultaneous extraction of the 16 U.S. EPA polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) priority pollutants. The mag-MIPs based extraction protocol is simple, more sensitive and low organic solvent consuming compared to official methods and also adequate for those PAHs more retained in the particulate matter. The new proposed extraction method followed by HPLC determination has been validated and applied to different types of water samples: tap water, river water, lake water and mineral water.