Study of complex matrix effect on solid phase microextraction for biological sample analysis

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) has become a useful tool for in vivo monitoring the behavior of environmental organic pollutants in biological species due to its simplicity, relatively non-invasive, and cost-effective manner. However, the complex matrices in biological samples could significantly influence the extraction kinetic, and bias the quantification result. In this study, we investigated the effect of complex matrix on the extraction kinetic of SPME for biological sample analysis. Two sample matrices, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and agarose gel with BSA were used to simulate the biological fluid and tissue. Results showed that the addition of BSA significantly enhanced the mass transfer of organic compounds onto SPME fiber in both PBS buffer and gel sample. Enhancement factors ranging from 1.3 to 27, and 2.0 to 80 were found for all selected polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PBS buffer and agarose gel with BSA concentration of 0.1–5%, respectively. Then, an improved theoretical model was applied to quantify the observed enhancement effect, and the result showed that the predicted sampling time constant agreed well with the experimental one in complex matrix. Furthermore, a simplified equation was proposed for the real biological sample analysis.