Milestone Application Seminar 2026 – Advanced Sample Preparation

Microwave-assisted extraction for PFAS analysis

Scientists and researchers have made it a top priority to develop analytical methods that can help detect PFAS in environmental samples. One of the latest efforts in this field was microwave technology applied to PFAS analysis: it is specifically designed to deliver the highest throughput, processing up to 44 samples per batch. This ensures a faster sample preparation and the highest productivity available on the market.

Several studies are evaluating how microplastics (MPs) impact the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. Discover two new methods for microplastic determinations that aim to simplify and expedite this type of analysis thanks to the use of microwave technology. 

Microwave-assisted solvent extraction offers superior lab efficiency in the determination of organic pollutants with microwave green extraction technique. Typical applications include chlorinated pesticides, semi-volatile organics, PAHs, PCBs, chlorinated herbicides, phenols, organophosphorus pesticides, dioxins and furans.

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a widespread toxic contaminant in the environment as it has been largely used for many industrial processes for decades. The method provides an alkaline digestion procedure for extracting hexavalent chromium from soils, sludges, sediments and similar wastes material, in accordance with the EPA 3060A.

Discover the core technology behind the Single Reaction Chamber—the latest innovation in sample digestion. This approach eliminates the need for batch processing, delivers lower blanks, and enables effective digestion of even the most reactive samples.

Learn the 3 best practices to deliver accurate mercury results in as little as 5 minutes. Direct mercury analyzers can determine mercury at very low level in any matrix (solid, liquid or gas) —without any pre-treatment or chemical additions —and at a savingsof approximately 70% compared to other techniques in full compliance with EPA method 7473.

Closed vessel microwave digestion is widely recognized as the most effective technique for the digestion of samples for metals analysis by graphite furnace atomic absorption (GFAA), inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Because it operated at a much higher temperature (and pressure) than a heated digestion block, it can be applied to a far wider range of samples.
With microwave digestion, the sample are enclosed; thus cross-contamination and loss of volatiles are eliminated and use of high quality vessel materials minimizes contamination.

For high-throughput laboratories closed-vessel microwave digestion has some limitations.
The digestion vessels must be cleaned prior to each use (normally by a cleaning cycle in the microwave with an acid blank). The vessels must be assembled and disassembled, which is labor intensive, and the sample solution must be transferred to another container prior to analysis, which increases handling and contamination risk. 

The Single Reaction Chamber (SRC) technology has none of the limitations of closed-vessel digestion, and has revolutionized digestion applications.

Sample preparation for elemental analysis is a pivotal step to ensure reliable and accurate data. Acid digestion has a central role in this stage, however there are several additional steps that contribute to improving quality in elemental analysis as well as workflow and lab efficiency. If there is no confidence in the initial sample preparation stage, there can be no confidence in the analysis. Milestone have designed several ancillary instruments to achieve the most confident sample preparation step.

The environmental testing industry is one of the largest users of analytical instrumentation and will continue to grow in near future. Nowadays environmental testing labs are under greater pressure than ever to deliver accurate results, at lower reporting limits. Special emphasis is made on productivity to keep up in an extremely competitive environment.
Milestone portfolio includes dedicated solutions of sample preparation for environmental labs designed for traditional testing as well as for regulatory methods to meet corporate and industrial regulations. Our products are built to last while giving many years of excellent service, with fast return on investment and low lifetime operating costs. High reliability combined with our fast, responsive service and complex applications support ensures maximum uptime to keep your lab running.

At Milestone we understand the challenges faced by industries in the field and strive to produce instrumentation that helps labs become more efficient and therefore more competitive. Using microwave-assisted technology, our products offers multiple benefits for sample preparation for trace metals analysis and for fast and efficient extraction of terpenes from fresh, fresh frozen and dry cannabis plant.

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a widespread toxic contaminant in the environment as it has been largely used for many industrial processes for decades. The method provides an alkaline digestion procedure for extracting hexavalent chromium from soils, sludges, sediments and similar wastes material, in accordance with the EPA 3060A.

Saponification Number in oils measures the amount of alkali required to convert fats into soap and it is a crucial parameter for formulation of industrial or artisanal soap. Microwave assisted solvent extraction is a well-established sample preparation technique and offers a reliable and efficient approach for its quantification. Milestone ETHOS X equipped with fastEX-24 eT rotor was used in this study to demonstrate its effectiveness in comparison with official ISO 3657:2020 method and European Pharmacopoeia.

The latest generation of dedicated microwave reactors enables a fast screening of reaction conditions by means of parallel tests, selecting the best catalyst, solvent and conditions bringing microwave assisted synthesis to new levels. Since its introduction, it has allowed chemists to run experiments faster than ever before and with higher yields. Today microwave synthesis instrumentation has become an optimal choice across the pharmaceutical, biotech, polymers and agro-chemical industries, with thousands of units installed worldwide. Microwave organic synthesis plays a key role for both organic or microwave inorganic synthesis performed simply with our dedicated platform. Its intuitive software always guarantees precise control of your reaction parameters to perform microwave chemical synthesis according to your demands saving time and efforts.