Prediction of solvents extraction—the organochlorine pesticides in soil using solubility parameter

Prediction of the optimal extraction solvent based on the solubility parameter to extract the typical organochlorine pesticides from Jiangxi red soil was reported in this paper. Hildebrand solubility parameters, including dispersion coefficient (δd), polarity (δp) and hydrogen bonding (δh), of extraction solvents (including hexane, dichloromethane, hexane/methanol (4:1, v/v), hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v), hexane/dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) and organochlorine pesticides were calculated using group contribution method. The solvents, such as hexane/methanol (4:1, v/v) and hexane/acetone (1:1, v/v) were selected as ideal extraction solvents to extract o,p′-DDT o,p′-DDE and o,p′-DDD with high recoveries (>82%), furthermore, these solvents can be used to extract α-endosulfan, Endrin and HCB with the reliable recoveries (>75%). The estimated finding by solubility parameters was supported by the results of soxhlet extraction.