Analytical Chemistry: Tasks, Resolutions and Future Standpoints of the Quantitative Analyses of Environmental Complex Sample Matrices

Nowadays, the challenges that analytical chemistry has to face are ever greater and more com-plex both from the point of view of the selectivity of the analytical methods and of the sensitiv-ity. This is especially true in quantitative analysis, where various methods must include the de-velopment and validation of new materials, strategies and procedures to meet the growing need for rapid, sensitive, selective and green methods. In this context, given the International Guide-lines, which, over time, are updated and which set up increasingly stringent "limits", constant innovation is required both in the pre-treatment procedures and in the instrumental configura-tions to obtain reliable, accurate and reproducible information. In addition, the environmental field certainly represents the greatest challenge as analytes are often present at trace and ul-tra-trace levels. These samples containing analytes at ultra-low concentration levels, therefore, require very labour intensive sample preparation procedures and involve the high consumption of organic solvents that may not be considered as "green". In the literature, in recent years, there has been a strong development of increasingly high performing sample preparation techniques, often "solvent free", as well as the development of hyphenated instrumental configurations that allow reaching previously unimaginable levels of sensitivity. This review aims to provide an update of the most recent developments currently in use in sample pre-treatment and instru-ment configurations in the environmental field, also evaluating the role and future develop-ments of Analytical Chemistry in light of upcoming challenges and new goals yet to be achieved