Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are toxic pollutants which persist in the environment. Extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons requires large volumes of toxic organic solvents, but the use of non-hazardous solvents provides a potentially cleaner approach to quantifying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental matrices. Here we investigated the efficiency of eucalyptus oil to extract polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from spiked soil and sediment. Eucalyptus oil extraction conditions including temperature, time, and volume of oil were optimized employing a Box–Behnken experimental design, and the desorption kinetics of phenanthrene, pyrene, chrysene, and benzo[a]pyrene were evaluated using an empirical first order kinetic model. Results show that extraction efficiency from soil, of 112% for phenanthrene, 108% for pyrene, 102% for chrysene and 98% for benzo[a]pyrene, is higher than that from sediment, of 90, 111, 84 and 82%, respectively. This may be due to soil possessing 12 times more organic carbon. Recoveries higher than 77% were obtained over the concentration range 0.5–10 mg/kg for the tested polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with limits of detection lower than 63 µg/kg and limits of quantitation lower than 125 µg/kg. These findings suggest that eucalyptus oil has potential as a safer solvent to extract hydrophobic contaminants.

多环芳烃是在环境中持久存在的有毒污染物。多环芳烃的提取需要大量有毒有机溶剂，但使用无害溶剂提供了一种可能更清洁的方法来量化环境基质中的多环芳烃。在这里，我们研究了桉树油从加标土壤和沉积物中提取多环芳烃的效率。采用 Box-Behnken 实验设计优化桉树油提取条件，包括温度、时间和油量，并使用经验一级动力学模型评估菲、芘、苯和苯并 [a] 芘的解吸动力学。结果表明，从土壤中提取的效率，菲为 112%，芘为 108%，苯并[a]芘为 102%，苯并[a]芘为 98%，分别高于沉积物的 90%、111%、84% 和 82%。这可能是由于土壤的有机碳含量高出 12 倍。对于所测试的多环芳烃，在 0.5–10 mg/kg 的浓度范围内获得了高于 77% 的回收率，检测限低于 63 µg/kg，定量限低于 125 µg/kg。这些发现表明，桉树油具有作为提取疏水污染物的更安全溶剂的潜力。检测限低于 63 µg/kg，定量限低于 125 µg/kg。这些发现表明，桉树油具有作为提取疏水污染物的更安全溶剂的潜力。检测限低于 63 µg/kg，定量限低于 125 µg/kg。这些发现表明，桉树油具有作为提取疏水污染物的更安全溶剂的潜力。