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Sample p retreatment is one of the bottlenecks in analytical chemistry, especially when dealing with complex matrices like environmental samples. When performed in a batch mode, sample handling methods are tedious and time consuming. Therefore, the hyphenation of these methods with flow-injection techniques yields many advantages. The possibility of automation not only increases the determination rate, but also decreases sample and reagent consumption. As a consequence, analyte separation, enrichment, and elimination o f sample matrix becomes possible with an increase in selectivity and sensitivity. This is a significant contribution for the analysis o f environmental samples because the analyte is usually present at trace levels in a complex matrix. In this scenario, the state o f the art o f solid-phase spectrometry (SPS) with a focus on the lab-on-valve (LOV) platform is discussed. LOV facilitates the manipulation o f bead suspension for SPS with lower reagents consumption and waste production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]