Polymericmaterials, both “inert” and degradable, constantly interact with the surroundings. Because of this interaction changes take place in the polymer matrix and small molecules are released to the environment. Reliable methods for testing biodegradability and environmental interaction of renewable resources and biodegradable polymers are required to answer the remaining questions concerning the environmental impact of these future materials. In the case of degradable polymers multiple factors affect the degradation process and small changes in the chemical structure or product formulation may change the susceptibility to degradation or cause different degradation product patterns, rendering the product less environmentally adaptable. Development of sustainable polymeric materials also demands the development of more migration-resistant polymer additives. Chromatographic techniques especially gas chromatography and liquid chromatography preferentially coupled to mass spectrometric detection are ideal tools for studying these low molecular weight compounds and polymer–environment interactions.

In the first chapter of this volume chromatographic fingerprinting and indicator product concepts are presented as tools for evaluating polymeric materials. These concepts have great potential in evaluation of degradation state and life-time/service-life of polymeric materials, evaluation of anti-oxidant or pro-oxidant systems, degradation mechanism and processing parameters as well as rapid comparison and quality control of materials. The solid-phase microextraction technique has rapidly found applications in numerous fields. The second chapter reviews the extraction of polymer degradation products and additives, monomer-rests, odour compounds, migrants from packaging and medical products as well as extractionof polymer additives fromenvironmental samplesandbiologicalfluidsby solid-phasemicroextractiondemonstrating the high versatility and potential of this technique also in polymer analysis.