Sensing of trace amounts of cadmium in drinking water using a single fluorescence-based optosensor

In this work, a single solid surface fluorescence based flow-through optosensor has been developed for the determination of trace amounts of cadmium in drinking water samples. The developed methodology is based on the transient immobilization of the target species on an appropriate active solid sensing zone (Sephadex QAE-A25).The target species was the fluorogenic chelate, formed as a result of the on-line complexation of Cd (II) with 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid, being its fluorescence signal continuously monitored at an emission wavelength of 520 nm upon excitation at 360 nm. The effect of instrumental, chemical and flow-injection variables on the fluorescence signal were carefully investigated. Under optimized conditions, the proposed optosensor was calibrated in the range 2-60 μg l^− 1, obtaining a detection limit of 0.48 μg l^− 1, and a R.S.D of 1.9%, with a sampling frequency of 18 h^− 1. The proposed method was satisfactorily applied to different drinking water samples, with recoveries between 97% and 104%. Simplicity, low cost and easy operation are the main and more remarkable features of the proposed procedure.     

Semi-online preconcentration of Cd, Mn and Pb on activated carbon for GFASS

This paper presents a method whereby trace elements in NH₄Cl-NH₃ medium are adsorbed on activated carbon in a micro-flow-injection (FI) semi-online sorbent extraction preconcentration system and then determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). The analytical performance of the proposed method for determining Cd, Mn and Pb was studied. A microcolumn packed with activated carbon was used as a preconcentration column (PCC). The metals to be determined were preconcentrated onto the column for 60 s and then rinsed with 0.02% (v/v) HNO₃ and eluted with 30 μl of 2 mol l⁻¹ HNO₃. Compared with the direct injection of 30 μl of aqueous sample solution, enrichment factor of 32, 26, and 21 and detection limits (3σ) of 0.4, 4.7, and 7.5 ng l⁻¹ for Cd, Mn and Pb, respectively, were obtained with 60 s sample loading at 3.0 ml min⁻¹ for sorbent extraction, 30 μl of eluate injection, and peak area measurement. The precisions (RSD, n=6) were 2.8% at the 0.05 μg l⁻¹ level for Cd, 3.0% at the 0.3 μg l⁻¹ level for Mn, and 3.1% at the 0.5 μg l⁻¹ level for Pb. The experimental results indicate that the procedure can eliminate the fundamental interferences caused by alkali and alkaline earth metals and the application of it to the determination of Cd, Mn and Pb in some water samples is successful.     

A simple and selective flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) by using acetylsalicylhydroxamic acid

A new simple, and rapid flow-injection spectrophotometric method is developed for the determination of trace amounts of Cu(II) by using a new chromogenic reagent acetylsalicylhydroxamic acid (AcSHA). The method is based on the formation of colored Cu(II)-(AcSHA)₂ complex. The optimum conditions for the chromogenic reaction of Cu(II) with AcSHA is studied and the colored (green) complex is selectively monitored at λ_max 700 nm. With the reagent carrier solvent (dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and acetate buffer, pH 4.2) flow-rate of 1 ml min⁻¹, a detection limit (2S) of 1 μg l⁻¹ Cu(II) was obtained at a sampling rate of 80 sample h⁻¹. The calibration graph was linear in the Cu(II) concentration range 5-120 μg l⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (n=10) was 0.64% for a sample containing 60 μg l⁻¹ Cu(II). The detailed study of various interferences confirmed the high selectivity of the developed method. The method was successfully applied to determine trace amounts of copper(II) in river and seawater samples. The accuracy of the method was demonstrated by the analysis of standard reference materials C12X3500 and C14XHS 50.     

Synthesis and application of a functionalized resin in on-line system for copper preconcentration and determination in foods by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

An on-line system for preconcentration and determination of copper at μg l⁻¹ level by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) is proposed. Amberlite XAD-2 functionalized with 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid packed in a minicolumn was used as sorbent. Copper(II) ions were sorbed in the minicolumn, from which it could be eluted by hydrochloric acid solution directly to the nebulizer-burner system of the FAAS. Eluent solution was carried by water at a flow rate of 5.00 ml min⁻¹. Signals were measured as peak height by using an instrument software. Achieved sampling rate was 27 samples per hour. Analytical parameters were evaluated and the results demonstrated that copper can be determined, with acetate buffer to adjust the sample pH at 6.0, preconcentration time of 120 s and a sample flow rate of 6.50 ml min⁻¹. The desorption was carried out with 30 μl of a 1.0 mol l⁻¹ hydrochloric acid solution. An enrichment factor of 33 in 13.00 ml of sample (120 s preconcentration time) was achieved by using the time-based technique. The detection limit (DL) (3 s) was 0.27 μg l⁻¹ and the precision (assessed as the relative standard deviation) reached values of 5.7-1.1% in copper solutions of 5.00 to 50.00 μg l⁻¹ concentration, respectively. The accuracy of procedure was confirmed by copper determination in certified reference materials. Recoveries of spike additions (1.0 or 2.0 μg g⁻¹) to food samples were quantitative (90.0-110.0%). These results proved also that the procedure is not affected by matrix interference and can be applied satisfactorily for copper determination in rice flour and starch samples.     

On-line preconcentration and determination of nickel in natural water samples by flow injection-inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (FI-ICP-OES)

An on-line nickel preconcentration and determination system implemented with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) associated to flow injection (FI) was studied. Trace amounts of nickel were preconcentrated by sorption on a conical minicolumn packed with activated carbon (AC) at pH 5.0. The nickel was removed from the minicolumn with 20% nitric acid. An enrichment factor of 80-fold for a sample volume of 50 ml was obtained. The detection limit (DL) value for the preconcentration method proposed was 82 ng l⁻¹. The precision for ten replicate determinations at the 0.5 μg l⁻¹ Ni level was 3.0% relative standard deviation (R.S.D.), calculated from the peak heights obtained. The calibration graph preconcentration method for nickel was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9997 at levels near the detection limits (DL) up to at least 100 μg l⁻¹. The method was successfully applied to the determination of nickel in natural water samples.     

Automated method for the determination of boron in water by flow-injection analysis with in-line preconcentration and spectrophotometric detection

A sensitive, automated method for the determination of boron in water samples is described, involving flow injection with on-line ion-exchange preconcentration and spectrophotometric detection of the azomethine-H—boron complex. The method is applicable to various water samples and is free from interferences, even in coloured samples. Detection limits of 5 μg l^?1 at 20 samples h^?1 and 1 μg l^?1 at 10 samples h^?1 with relative standard deviations of < 10% at 1–10 μg l^?1 and < 5%at 10–200 μg l^?1 levels of boron were achieved. The recoveries for spiked natural water samples ranged from 96 to 101%. The method compares favourably with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.     

Determination of Cr(VI) in the presence of Cr(III) and humic acid by cathodic stripping voltammetry

A voltammetric procedure in the flow system for determination of traces of Cr(VI) in the presence of Cr(III) and humic acid is presented. The calibration graph is linear from 5×10⁻¹⁰ to 1×10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹ for an accumulation time of 120 s. The R.S.D. for 1×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ Cr(VI) is 5.3% (n=5). The detection limit estimated from 3σ for a low concentration of Cr(VI) and accumulation time of 120 s is 2×10⁻¹⁰ mol l⁻¹. The method can be used for Cr(VI) determination in the presence of up to 50 mg l⁻¹ of humic acid. The validation of the method was carried out by studying the recovery of Cr(VI) from spiked river water and by the comparison of the results of determination of Cr(VI) in a soil sample. The method cannot be used for analysis of samples containing high concentrations of chloride ions such as seawater and estuarine water.     

Ozone treatment for mercury determination in white wines

A method was developed for the generation of mercury vapour by means of cold-vapour flow-injection atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-CV-AAS) from white wine samples after ozonation as sample pre-treatment. Two different reactors designs for sample ozonation were developed and investigated. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification were, respectively, 0.5 and 1.7 μg l⁻¹, and the relative standard deviation (n=10) was 2% for a concentration of 50 μg l⁻¹ and 7% for a concentration of 5 μg l⁻¹. The pre-treatment with ozone has allowed to reduce drastically the amount of chemical reagents (e.g. carrier agent and reducing agent) used in the FI-CV-AAS system. The mercury content of wine samples was also determined by FI-CV-AAS after pre-concentration in the presence of HNO₃ and H₂O₂. In general, there was no significant difference among data obtained from both methodologies, but pre-treatment with ozone is much faster.     

Solid phase extraction of gold by sorption on octadecyl silica membrane disks modified with pentathia-15-crown-5 and determination by AAS

A simple and selective method for rapid and efficient concentration and determination of μg l⁻¹ levels of Au(III) ions in aqueous solution using octadecyl silica membrane disks modified by pentathia-15-crown-5 and flame atomic absorption spectrometry is presented. The influence of flow rates of eluent and sample solution, amount of ligand, types and least amount of eluent for elution of Au from disks were investigated. Break through volume and limit of detection of the membrane disks modified by 5 mg of the thiacrown ether was found to be 2.0 l and 1.0 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The effects of various cationic interferences on percent recovery of gold were studied. The method was successfully applied for the determinations of gold in some pharmaceutical samples and for the recovery of trace Au³⁺ ions from synthetic and water samples.     

Simultaneous pre-concentration procedure for the determination of cadmium and lead in drinking water employing sequential multi-element flame atomic absorption spectrometry

In this paper is proposed a simultaneous pre-concentration procedure using cloud point extraction for the determination of cadmium and lead in drinking water employing sequential multi-element flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The ligand used is 2-(2-thiazolylazo)-p-cresol (TAC) and the micellar phase is obtained using non-ionic surfactant octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (Triton X-114) and centrifugation.The optimization step was performed using two-level factorial design and Doehlert design. A multiple response function was established in order to get experimental conditions for simultaneous extraction of cadmium and lead.The method allows the determination of cadmium and lead with detection limits of 0.077 μg L^− 1 and 1.05 μg L^− 1 respectively, precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.5 and 3.3% (n = 10) for cadmium concentrations of 30 μg L^− 1 and 50 μg L^− 1, respectively, and RSD of 1.8% and 2.7% for lead concentrations of 30 μg L^− 1 and 50 μg L^− 1, respectively. The accuracy was confirmed by analysis of a certified reference material of natural water.This method was applied for the determination of cadmium and lead in drinking water samples collected in Jaguaquara City, Brazil. Tests of addition/recovery were also performed for some samples and results varied from 95 to 104% for cadmium and 96 to 107% for lead. The cadmium and lead concentrations found in these samples were always lower than the permissible maximum levels stipulated by Brazilian Health Organization.     

Application of sequential injection-monosegmented flow analysis (SI-MSFA) to spectrophotometric determination of sulfide in simulated waters samples

This paper describes the coupling of sequential injection with monosegmented flow analysis (SI-MSFA) for determination of sulfide at typical concentrations in wastewaters. The method was based on the reaction of sulfide with 19 mmol l⁻¹ Fe³⁺ and 3.63 mmol l⁻¹N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylene diamine hydrochloride in medium of 1.1 mol l⁻¹ HCl, forming the dye methylene blue. The analytical curves were constructed by in-line dilution of a single stock standard solution. The robustness of the proposed method was checked constructing analytical curves in different working days and comparing the slopes, which had a relative standard deviation of 5.2% (n=5) for a concentration range between 0.17 and 1.0 mg l⁻¹ S²⁻. The analytical throughput was 38 samples per h and the limit of detection was 0.040 mg l⁻¹. The feasibility of the SI-MSFA approach to perform standard additions for S²⁻ determination was also described. Simulated samples spiked with known amounts of sulfide were analyzed by the proposed method, presenting recoveries between 70 and 115%. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the SI-MSFA method to perform in situ analysis of S²⁻ in automatic monitoring stations.     

Sensitive determination of hydrazine in water by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry after derivatization with ortho-phthalaldehyde

A gas chromatography–mass spectrometric (GC–MS) method has been established for the determination of hydrazine in drinking water and surface water. This method is based on the derivatization of hydrazine with ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) in water. The following optimum reaction conditions were established: reagent dosage, 40 mg mL⁻¹ of OPA; pH 2; reaction for 20 min at 70 °C. The organic derivative was extracted with methylene chloride and then measured by GC–MS. Under the established condition, the detection and the quantification limits were 0.002 μg L⁻¹ and 0.007 μg L⁻¹ by using 5.0-mL of surface water or drinking water, respectively. The calibration curve showed good linearity with r² = 0.9991 (for working range of 0.05–100 μg L⁻¹) and the accuracy was in a range of 95–106%, and the precision of the assay was less than 13% in water. Hydrazine was detected in a concentration range of 0.05–0.14 μg L⁻¹ in 2 samples of 10 raw drinking water samples and in a concentration range of 0.09–0.55 μg L⁻¹ in 4 samples of 10 treated drinking water samples.     

Preconcentration and speciation of chromium in drinking water samples by coupling of on-line sorption on activated carbon to ETAAS determination

An on-line flow injection (FI) preconcentration-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) method is developed for trace determination of chromium in drinking water samples by sorption on a conical minicolumn packed with activated carbon (AC) at pH 5.0. The chromium was removed from the minicolumn with 1.0% (v/v) nitric acid. An enrichment factor (EF) of 35-fold for a sample volume of 10 ml was obtained. The detection limit (DL) value for the preconcentration method proposed was 3.0 ng l⁻¹. The precision for 10 replicate determinations at the 0.5 μg l⁻¹ Cr level was 4.0% relative standard deviation (R.S.D.), calculate with the peak heights obtained. The calibration graph using the preconcentration system for chromium was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9992 at levels near the detection limits up to at least 50 μg l⁻¹. The method was successfully applied to the determination of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in drinking water samples.     

Simultaneous determination of zirconium and hafnium as ternary complexes with 5-Br-PADAP and fluoride using solid-phase extraction and reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) along with reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) was used for the simultaneous determination of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) by means of their ternary chelates with fluoride and 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP). The conditions of SPE sorption were examined in detail: type of SPE column, volume of the sample, volume of the eluent, concentrations of metal ions, fluoride salt, chromogenic reagent, organic phase, and pH. It was established that the sorption of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV), as their ternary chelates, on SPE Zorbax SPE C18 (EC) cartridge was the most efficient, when the sample containing metal ion (Zr(IV), Hf(IV), both, up to 2 μg), 5-Br-PADAP 1.5×10⁻⁴, NaF 7.5×10⁻⁵ mol l⁻¹, methanol 40%, pH 4.5±1 was applied for the SPE sorption. The chelates were discarded from SPE cartridge using acetonitrile/water (99.75+0.25, v/v) eluent containing 3.8×10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹ sodium fluoride and subsequently separated by RP-LC method. The RP-LC separation of both chelates was optimized and Zorbax SB-C18 analytical LC column along with acetonitrile/water (65+35, v/v) eluent containing the 1.5×10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹ sodium fluoride was used. The established SPE/LC conditions allow Zr(IV) 0.08-2.0 μg and Hf(IV) 0.04-2.0 μg determination in a sample volume up to 150 ml. The detection limits, 0.03 μg Hf(IV) and 0.05 μg Zr(IV), were obtained. Recoveries, (94±2)% for Hf(IV) chelate and (106±2)% for Zr(IV) chelate were obtained, when 1 μg of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) ions were determined by the present SPE/LC method from the sample volume of 100 ml. The established, pre-concentration SPE conditions, along with the LC separation and determination allow the assay of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) in complicated matrix materials. The present SPE/LC method was applied to the determination of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) in tap water and reference geological material (rock, NCS DC 73303; certified content: Zr, 27.7×10⁻³% (w/w) and Hf, 6.5×10⁻⁴% (w/w)).     

Preconcentration procedure using cloud point extraction in the presence of electrolyte for cadmium determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

This paper describes a micelle-mediated phase separation in the presence of electrolyte as a preconcentration method for cadmium determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Cadmium was complexed with ammonium O,O-diethyldithiophosphate (DDTP) in an acidic medium (0.32 mol l^− 1 HCl) using Triton X-114 as surfactant and quantitatively extracted into a small volume (about 20 μl) of the surfactant-rich phase after centrifugation. The chemical variables that affect the cloud point extraction, such as complexing time (0–20 min), Triton X114 concentration (0.043–0.87% w/v) and complexing agent concentration (0.01–0.1 mol l^− 1), were investigated. The cloud point is formed in the presence of NaCl at room temperature (25 °C), and the electrolyte concentration (0.5–5% w/v) was also investigated. Under optimized conditions, only 8 ml of sample was used in the presence of 0.043% w/v Triton X-114 and 1% (w/v) NaCl. This method permitted limits of detection and quantification of 0.9 μg l^− 1 and 2.9 μg l^− 1 Cd, respectively, and a linear calibration range from 3 to 400 μg l^− 1 Cd. The proposed method was applied to Cd determination in physiological solutions (containing 0.9% (w/v) of NaCl), mineral water, lake water and cigarette samples (tobacco).     

Optimization of a GFAAS method for determination of total inorganic arsenic in drinking water

The new 10 μg l⁻¹ arsenic standard in drinking water has been a spur to the search for reliable routine analytical methods with a limit of detection at the μg l⁻¹ level. These methods also need to be easy to handle due to the routine analyses that are required in drinking water monitoring. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) meets these requirements, but the limit of detection is generally too high except for methods using a pre-concentration or separation step. The use of a high-intensity boosted discharge hollow-cathode lamp decreases the baseline noise level and therefore allows a lower limit of detection. The temperature program, chemical matrix modifier and thermal stabilizer additives were optimized for total inorganic arsenic determination with GFAAS, without preliminary treatment. The optimal furnace program was validated with a proprietary software. The limit of detection was 0.26 μg As l⁻¹ for a sample volume of 16 μl corresponding to 4.2 pg As. This attractive technique is rapid as 20 samples can be analysed per hour. This method was validated with arsenic reference solutions. Its applicability was verified with artificial and natural groundwaters. Recoveries from 91 to 105% with relative standard deviation <5% can be easily achieved. The effect of interfering anions and cations commonly found in groundwater was studied. Only phosphates and silicates (respectively at 4 and 20 mg l⁻¹) lead to significant interferences in the determination of total inorganic arsenic at 4 μg l⁻¹.     

Preconcentration and speciation of chromium using a melamine based polymeric sequestering succinic acid resin: its application for Cr(VI) and Cr(III) determination in wastewater

A new melamine based polymeric sequestering resin was prepared for preconcentration and separation of hexavalent chromium from water, and its sequestering action was investigated. The water-insoluble, cross-linked sequestering resin was formed by reaction with bromosuccinic acid and cross-linking of melamine. The active sequestering group on the resin is NH-(Succinic acid) or salt thereof. The resulting chelating resin was characterized by infrared spectra. The newly prepared resin quantitatively retained Cr(VI) at pH 2.0-4.0 when the flow rate was maintained between 1 and 5 ml min⁻¹. The retained Cr(VI) was instantaneously eluted with 25 ml of 0.1 M NaOH. The chromium species were determined by a flame atomic absorption spectrometer. The limits of detection for Cr(VI) and Cr(III) were found to be 5.3 and 4.2 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The precision and accuracy of the proposed procedure was checked by the use synthetic and reference steel samples. The established preconcentration method was successfully applied to the determination and selective separation of Cr(VI) in electroplating industry wastewater. Total concentrations determined by the spectrophotometric method (110.3±0.6 g l⁻¹ Cr(VI) and 1.2±0.3 g l⁻¹ Cr(III)) are compared with those found by FAAS and the obtained results (110.4±1.8 g l⁻¹ Cr(VI) and 1.4±0.5 g l⁻¹ Cr(III)) show good agreement.     

Rapid and sensitive determination of protein by light-scattering technique with Eriochrome Blue Black R

Based on the interaction between Eriochrome Blue Black R (EBBR) and proteins, which causes a strong light-scattering signal with the maximum scattering peak located at 398 nm, a simple, rapid, sensitive and selective method is developed for the determination of proteins by the light-scattering technique using a common spectrofluoremeter. Under proper experimental conditions, the protein determination can be performed in the range of 0.1-25, 0.1-20 and 0.25-25 μg ml⁻¹ for bovine serum albumin (BSA), human serum albumin (HSA) and human immunoglobulin G (IgG), respectively. The detection limit, calculated as 3 times the S.D. of nine blank measurements, are 33 μg l⁻¹ for BSA, 25 μg l⁻¹ for HSA and 38 μg l⁻¹ for IgG. Moreover, there is no significant difference among the scattering signals yielded by HSA, IgG and BSA, and almost no interference of many amino acids and metal ions. The method has been satisfactorily applied to the direct determination of the total protein in human serum, saliva and urine samples. The results obtained from the studies on the binding characteristics of EBBR to BSA indicated that an electrostatic force existed in the binding system, and the binding constant (K) and the number of the binding sites (n) at 25 °C are 1.69×10⁵ l mol⁻¹ and 0.946, respectively.     

A continuous flow system combined with a sensing fluorimetric transductor for the determination of β-naphthol

A single automatic method for continuous flow determination of β-naphthol based on the enhancement of its native fluorescence once the analyte was transitorily retained on-line on a solid support (QAE A-25 resin) is reported. So, a flow-through optosensor was developed using a flow-injection analysis system with solid phase fluorimetric transduction. KCl (0.15 mol l⁻¹) at pH 12.0 was used as carrier solution. To obtain the optimum fluorescence signal the wavelengths chosen were 245 nm (excitation) and 420 nm (emission). The response of the sensor was directly proportional to the sample volume injected in the studied range 40-1500 μl. Approximately one higher order of magnitude is achieved in sensitivity when 1500 μl are used with respect to the use of 40 μl of sample. The sensor was calibrated for three different injection volumes: 40, 600 and 1500 μl, responding linearly in the measuring range of 2-60, 0.5-15 and 0.2-5 μg l⁻¹ with detection limits of 0.5, 0.09 and 0.05 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The relative standard deviation for ten independent determination is 0.6% (40 μl), 0.9% (600 μl) and 2.3% (1500 μl). A recovery study was performed onto three different spiked water samples at concentration levels from 1 to 2.5 μg l⁻¹ and the recovery percentage from the experimental data ranged between 101±2 and 105±5.     

Spectrofluorimetric determination of formaldehyde in air after collection onto silica cartridges coated with Fluoral P

In the present work, a sensitive and selective fluorimetric method for formaldehyde determination in air samples is described. The method is based in the reaction between formaldehyde and Fluoral P producing 3,5-diacetyl-1,4-dihydrolutidine, which, when excited at 410 nm, emits fluorescence at 510 nm.The Fluoral P was prepared by the reaction of 0.3 ml of acetic acid, 0.2 ml of acetylacetone and 15.4 g of ammonium acetate. Then, the volume was completed to 100 ml with deionized water. The Fluoral P obtained, if stored under refrigeration in the dark, can be used, safely, for 60 days.The calibration curve obtained with concentrations of formaldehyde in the range of 12 to 192 ng ml⁻¹ (n=9) was Intensity=1.11C+0.06 (R²=0.9920). In the quantification of formaldehyde, air samples were passed at 1 l min⁻¹, during 120 min, through glass impingers containing 40 ml of Fluoral P, followed by direct fluorescence measuring, or through two SEP PAK silica cartridges, coated with Fluoral P. The cartridges were eluted with 10 ml of Fluoral P solution and quantified by spectrofluorimetry. Under these conditions, the detection limit (S/N=3) obtained was 2.0 ng ml⁻¹.The new methodology was validated by comparison with a well-known HPLC method in which formaldehyde was collected into SEP PAK C18 cartridges coated with 2,4 dinitrophenylhydrazine. The application of the t_95% test did not show significant differences between the HPLC and either fluorimetric methodologies.This method has been used in the determination of gas phase formaldehyde in both indoor and outdoor sites. For the indoor site, the measured concentrations were in the range of 9.0 to 67.7 μl l⁻¹, while for the outdoor site they were in the range of 16.8 to 38.8 μl l⁻¹. Further, due to the ease of handling in field studies, the SEP PAK cartridges coated with Fluoral P were used. The formaldehyde concentrations thus determined, in outdoor sites, were in the range of 2.09 to 25.1 μl l⁻¹. The main advantage of this analytical procedure is its selectivity for formaldehyde, without interferences from bisulfite and other aldehydes, especially acetaldehyde, and low blank level, resulting in low detection limits. In addition, very little sample preparation is required.