3. Extraction techniques

A prerequisite for the correct quantification of chlordecone and/or its metabolites is effective extraction from its original matrix. Due to the aforementioned cage structure of chlordecone and its chemical properties, its extraction is particularly difficult. In particular, tropical soils tend to strongly retain the molecule. Furthermore, due to their various chemical properties, the extraction steps for degradation products may differ from those for the chlordecone molecule. As degradation studies are relatively recent, most extraction methods are optimized for chlordecone contained in a given matrix, without taking metabolites into account.