Lipophilic organic material: An apparatus for extracting solids used for their concentration from sea water

Lipophilic organic substances, whether man-made, mobilized by human activities, or of recent natural origin, are usually dissolved in sea water at such minute concentrations that the chemical characterization and quantitative determination of single compounds are possible only after a sufficient quantity has been collected by concentration from relatively large (of the order of 100-1000 litres) volumes. Essentially two techniques have found widespread application in marine organic chemistry and pollution research, i.e., extraction, either batchwise or continuous, with a suitable water-immiscible solvent or sorption onto solids. Described below is a new apparatus and technique for purifying sorbant material from substances interfering with ultra-trace analyses and for desorbing analytes.