How does automated sample preparation support green chemistry initiatives?

Automated sample preparation supports green chemistry initiatives by dramatically reducing the volume of organic solvents required per sample, eliminating hazardous reagents like dichloromethane, and cutting analyst exposure to toxic chemicals. These gains are not marginal: modern fully automated systems can process complex environmental samples using less than 100 ml of solvent, a fraction of what manual workflows typically consume. The questions below explore exactly how this works across solvent reduction, contamination control, contaminant scope, compliance, and more.

What specific solvent reductions do automated systems achieve?

Fully automated sample preparation systems reduce organic solvent consumption to less than 100 ml per sample, without requiring dichloromethane. This represents a substantial reduction compared to traditional manual extraction and cleanup workflows, which routinely consume several hundred millilitres of solvent per sample and often rely on chlorinated solvents that carry significant health and disposal risks.

The solvent savings come from two sources working together. First, automated systems apply precisely controlled volumes at each extraction or cleanup step, eliminating the overuse that naturally occurs in manual handling. Second, systems like the SER-158 solvent extractor use the Randall principle, which combines boiling solvent extraction with a hot Soxhlet step and simultaneous concentration, meaning solvents are actively recovered into a collection tank rather than evaporated to waste. Up to six solid or semi-solid samples can be extracted in 23 hours using less than 100 ml of solvent per sample.

For laboratories running high-throughput workflows, these reductions compound quickly. A lab processing dozens of samples per week can cut annual solvent purchasing, storage, and disposal costs significantly, while reducing the regulatory burden associated with hazardous waste management. From a green chemistry perspective, reduced solvent use is one of the most direct and measurable contributions a laboratory can make toward sustainable operations.

How does automation eliminate cross-contamination risks?

Automated sample preparation eliminates cross-contamination risks by ensuring that samples never come into direct contact with the instrument itself. In fully automated cleanup systems, each sample moves through a dedicated, controlled flow path where reagents and solvents are delivered without any sample-to-system contact, meaning residues from one sample cannot carry over to the next.

This design principle is particularly important when analyzing persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins and PCBs, where even trace-level contamination can invalidate results or trigger false positives. In manual workflows, glassware reuse, analyst handling, and shared equipment surfaces are all potential contamination vectors. Automation removes these variables entirely.

For dioxin and PCB cleanup, fully automated platforms apply this principle across the entire purification sequence. The result is a reproducible, analyst-independent process that delivers consistent results regardless of who is operating the system or how many samples are processed in sequence. This level of control is difficult to achieve manually, especially at scale.

Which contaminants are best suited for green automated preparation?

Automated sample preparation is best suited for the analysis of persistent organic pollutants and emerging contaminants, including dioxins (PCDD/F), PCBs, PBDEs, PCNs, PFAS, pesticides, PAHs, and hormones. These compound classes share characteristics that make automation particularly effective: they occur at trace levels in complex matrices, require multi-step extraction and cleanup, and demand high reproducibility to meet regulatory thresholds.

Persistent organic pollutants: dioxins, PCBs, and PBDEs

Dioxin and PCB analysis involves some of the most demanding sample preparation in analytical chemistry. Samples must be extracted from matrices as diverse as food, feed, soil, sewage sludge, water, and air, and then purified through multiple cleanup stages to remove co-extractants like lipids and sulfur before mass spectrometry measurement. Fully automated cleanup systems handle this entire sequence in a reproducible, solvent-efficient workflow, making them the preferred tool for high-throughput dioxin laboratories.

PFAS and emerging contaminants

PFAS analysis presents a different challenge: the compounds are highly persistent, found across an enormous range of environmental and food matrices, and require extraction systems with inert flow paths that contain no Teflon or other fluoropolymer components that could leach interfering compounds. Automated SPE systems for PFAS are specifically engineered with fully inert materials to address this requirement, making them a strong fit for laboratories running PFAS monitoring programs under evolving EU and international regulations.

What’s the difference between automated SPE and fully automated cleanup systems?

Automated Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) systems automate the extraction and concentration of target analytes from liquid or dissolved samples using sorbent cartridges or disks. Fully automated cleanup systems go further: they automate the entire post-extraction purification sequence, including lipid removal, fractionation, and concentration, typically for solid or semi-solid matrices requiring multiple sequential cleanup steps.

In practical terms, automated SPE is the right tool when the primary challenge is processing large volumes of liquid samples efficiently, for example, extracting PFAS, pesticides, or hormones from water samples. Systems like the AutoEmpore handle large-volume water extraction across multiple channels simultaneously, with built-in online filtration and water removal. The AutoEmpore platform supports 25 mm, 47 mm, and 90 mm disks as well as 3 ml and 6 ml cartridges, and is available in 3, 6, 9, or 12-channel configurations.

Fully automated cleanup systems, by contrast, are designed for the complex multi-stage purification required in dioxin and PCB analysis of solid matrices. They integrate extraction, cleanup, and concentration into a single automated workflow, removing the need for analyst intervention between steps. Both approaches reduce organic solvent waste compared to manual methods, but they serve different analytical needs and are often complementary within the same laboratory.

How does automated sample prep support ISO 17025 compliance?

Automated sample preparation supports ISO 17025 compliance by delivering the reproducibility, traceability, and documented method control that accreditation bodies require. Because automated systems apply identical conditions to every sample, the same solvent volumes, the same timing, the same flow rates, they produce results that are far easier to validate and defend during audits than manually variable workflows.

ISO 17025 accreditation requires laboratories to demonstrate that their methods are fit for purpose and that results are reliable and reproducible. Automation directly addresses both requirements. Instrument logs provide a built-in audit trail for every run, recording the parameters applied to each sample. This documentation supports method validation records, uncertainty calculations, and proficiency testing submissions.

Laboratories that have implemented automated cleanup platforms for dioxin and PCB analysis have been able to validate methods against EPA 1613B and EPA 1668A standards, as well as CEN methods for food and feed matrices. The consistency of automated workflows also simplifies the process of extending accreditation to new matrices or analyte groups, since the core method parameters remain fixed and only matrix-specific adjustments need to be validated.

When does switching to automated green sample preparation make sense?

Switching to automated green sample preparation makes sense when a laboratory is processing enough samples that manual preparation creates a throughput bottleneck, when solvent costs and disposal fees are a significant operational expense, or when reproducibility issues are affecting data quality and regulatory compliance. The business case strengthens further when laboratories are under pressure to reduce hazardous chemical use or when key analysts spend a disproportionate amount of time on preparation rather than analysis.

Specific triggers that commonly drive the switch include:

Growing sample volumes that exceed what manual workflows can handle without adding headcount
Failed proficiency tests or inter-laboratory comparison results linked to preparation variability
Regulatory changes, particularly tightening PFAS or dioxin limits, that demand lower detection thresholds and therefore cleaner sample preparation
Sustainability commitments or internal environmental targets that require measurable reductions in solvent use and chemical waste
ISO 17025 accreditation applications or renewals that require demonstrably controlled and documented methods
Analyst turnover or training costs that make manual method consistency difficult to maintain

The investment threshold is lower than many laboratories expect. Automated SPE platforms for PFAS and pesticide analysis can be integrated into existing workflows without rebuilding the entire laboratory. For dioxin and PCB laboratories, fully automated cleanup systems replace the most labour-intensive and solvent-heavy part of the workflow, freeing analysts for higher-value tasks while simultaneously improving data quality.

How DSP-Systems supports your green laboratory automation goals

DSP-Systems supplies and distributes a complete range of automated sample preparation systems for laboratories analyzing environmental contaminants, with a specific focus on eco-friendly, solvent-efficient solutions. Whether your laboratory needs to scale up PFAS extraction, automate dioxin and PCB cleanup, or reduce dichloromethane use across the board, DSP-Systems can match you with the right platform. Key capabilities include:

Fully automated cleanup systems (GO-EHT) for dioxins, PCBs, PBDEs, and PCNs across food, feed, soil, water, and air matrices
High-throughput automated SPE systems (SPE2000, AutoEmpore) for PFAS, pesticides, hormones, PAHs, and SVOCs
Solvent extraction systems (SER-158) using less than 100 ml per sample with built-in solvent recovery
Pre-installation programming, SPE application testing, and configuration in line with EPA and CEN standards
Method development and validation support for ISO 17025-accredited workflows
Training, turnkey lab setups, and ongoing technical support

Contact DSP-Systems to discuss which automated sample preparation solution fits your laboratory’s contaminant scope, sample throughput, and sustainability targets.

Veelgestelde vragen

How long does it typically take to validate an automated sample preparation method for ISO 17025 accreditation?

Validation timelines vary depending on the matrix and analyte scope, but laboratories using fully automated cleanup systems generally find the process faster than validating manual methods because the system applies identical conditions to every run, making repeatability data straightforward to generate. For established methods like EPA 1613B or CEN dioxin standards, validation can often be completed within a few weeks once the system is configured and installed. DSP-Systems provides method development and validation support to help laboratories meet accreditation body requirements efficiently.

Can automated SPE systems handle multiple contaminant classes in the same laboratory workflow, or do you need separate systems for each?

Many automated SPE platforms are configurable for multiple contaminant classes, but the key consideration is whether the system materials are compatible with all target analytes. For example, PFAS analysis requires fully inert, fluoropolymer-free flow paths, which rules out standard SPE systems that contain Teflon components. High-throughput platforms like the SPE2000 and AutoEmpore can be configured for different analyte groups, and in many laboratories, a combination of an automated SPE system for liquid matrices and a fully automated cleanup system for solid matrices covers the full contaminant scope without workflow conflicts.

What happens to solvent recovery in the SER-158 system — is the recovered solvent reusable?

The SER-158 uses the Randall principle to actively recover solvent into a collection tank rather than allowing it to evaporate to waste, which is the primary mechanism behind its sub-100 ml per sample consumption. Whether the recovered solvent is reusable depends on the sample matrix and the analytes being extracted — in many environmental applications, recovered solvent contains co-extractants and is not suitable for direct reuse in the same extraction step. However, solvent recovery still delivers significant cost and waste disposal savings compared to open evaporation workflows, and the recovered volume can often be reused in lower-sensitivity applications or disposed of at a fraction of the cost of virgin solvent.

We're a smaller laboratory with lower sample volumes — is automated sample preparation still cost-effective for us?

Automation is not exclusively a high-throughput solution, and the cost-effectiveness calculation should include factors beyond sample volume alone, such as analyst time, solvent purchasing and disposal costs, failed proficiency tests, and the risk of reproducibility issues affecting accreditation. Smaller laboratories often find that automation pays for itself through reduced reagent costs and the ability to redeploy analyst time toward higher-value tasks. Modular platforms like the AutoEmpore in a 3-channel configuration offer a lower entry point that can be scaled up as sample volumes grow.

How do automated systems handle difficult matrices like sewage sludge or fatty food samples that are known to cause problems in manual cleanup?

Difficult matrices like sewage sludge, animal fat, or fish tissue are exactly where fully automated cleanup systems provide the greatest advantage over manual workflows, because the multi-step lipid removal and fractionation sequence is applied consistently regardless of how lipid-heavy or complex the matrix is. In manual workflows, high-fat samples often require analyst judgment calls on cleanup duration and reagent volumes, introducing variability that can affect results. Automated platforms like the GO-EHT are specifically designed for these matrices and have been validated across food, feed, soil, and sludge samples in dioxin and PCB analysis.

What are the most common mistakes laboratories make when transitioning from manual to automated sample preparation?

The most common mistake is treating automation as a direct one-to-one replacement for a manual method without taking the opportunity to re-optimize the workflow for the automated platform. Manual methods are often built around analyst habits and available glassware rather than analytical efficiency, and simply replicating them in an automated system can carry over inefficiencies or incompatibilities. A second frequent issue is underestimating the importance of sample homogenization and pre-treatment before the automated step — the system can only control what it processes, so inconsistent sample input leads to inconsistent output. Working with the supplier during installation to configure and test the method properly avoids both pitfalls.

How do evolving PFAS regulations in the EU affect the choice of automated sample preparation platform?

Tightening EU PFAS regulations, including lower maximum residue levels and expanded compound lists under EFSA and EU Water Framework Directive requirements, directly raise the bar for sample preparation quality because lower detection thresholds demand cleaner extracts with less background interference. This makes the inert flow path requirement for PFAS SPE systems non-negotiable — any fluoropolymer contamination from the system itself will compromise results at the concentration levels now required. Laboratories should also consider platforms that can accommodate new PFAS compounds as the regulated list expands, making configurability and supplier method development support important selection criteria alongside current analytical performance.

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