Determination of acetochlor in technical and formulated products by capillary gas chromatography: PVM 5:1999

A peer-verified gas chromatographic (GC) method is presented for the weight percent (wt %) determination of acetochlor herbicide in technical and formulated products. During method development, the method was found to be rugged by the Youden Ruggedness Test. Two laboratories with experience in the wt % determination of acetochlor in various matrixes participated in this study. Each laboratory received 10 blind duplicate test samples of the following 5 matrixes: one acetochlor technical and 4, different, emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulations--Harness EC (MON 5841), Harness Export/Fist (MON 8435), Surpass EC (HF), and Surpass EC (LF). Each participant was asked to make duplicate weighings of each of the test samples and to inject each test sample solution twice. All test samples were analyzed on the same day, and 8 data points (replicates) per matrix were obtained. The test samples were dissolved in acetone that contained dipentyl phthalate as an internal standard. They were analyzed by GC on a 15 m capillary column by using split injection and a flame ionization detector. Acetochlor (wt %) was determined by comparing the ratios of peak area of acetochlor/peak area of dipentyl phthalate internal standard obtained for the test sample and calibration solutions. Repeatability of the method, expressed as the within-laboratory (between replicates) relative standard deviation (RSDr), was found to be 0.09-0.77% for the 5 matrixes. Reproducibility of the method, expressed as the within-test sample relative standard deviation (RSDR), was found to be 0.18-0.78% for the     

Trace mercury analysis in biological material: use of 203Hg-labelled methylmercury chloride for in vivo labelling of fish to study the efficacy of various wet ashing procedures

Several wet ashing techniques for trace mercury analysis by cold vapour atomic absorption have been evaluated with radiotracer mercury, and in particular fish labelled in vivo with ²⁰³Hg-tagged methylmercury chloride. Partial digestion methods suffer from strong matrix effects; these include incomplete extraction from the sample, hold-back of mercury in the extraction solution during the reduction/aeration step, and alteration of the aeration release pattern so as to cause low results if measurement is based on peak height. A complete digestion method is outlined; this gives good results and is tentatively recommended pending further tests with other types of biological samples.     

Application of silica gel organofunctionalized with 3(1-imidazolyl)propyl in an on-line preconcentration system for the determination of copper by FAAS

This study presents a new procedure for the determination of trace levels of copper(II) in an aqueous matrix, through flow injection (FI) on-line preconcentration with a minicolumn packed with silica gel modified with 3(1-imidazolyl)propyl groups. After the preconcentration stage, the analyte was eluted with a HNO₃ solution and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The measurements of the analytical signals were carried out as peak area and peak height with the objective of evaluating the most appropriate absorption measurement for the proposed method. Four procedures to calculate the experimental enrichment factor (EF) were also studied. For a preconcentration time of 90 s the enrichment factors found in this study varied between 19.5-25.8 and 36.2-42.2 for peak area and peak height, respectively. The precision of the proposed method was calculated for a solution containing 20 μg l⁻¹ of Cu(II), when 11.2 ml of solution was preconcentrated (n=7), and their respective relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) values were 1.2 and 1.4% for peak area and peak height, respectively. The detection limits obtained were 0.4 and 0.2 μg l⁻¹ of Cu(II) for peak area and peak height, respectively, with a preconcentration time of 90 s. The on-line preconcentration system accuracy was evaluated through a recovery test on the aqueous samples and analysis of a certified material.     

Determination of magnesium and calcium ions in seawater by capillary zone electrophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis is proposed for the determination of magnesium and calcium ions in seawater. A carrier solution containing EDTA was adopted for the complexation of these ions and the effect of sodium chloride concentration in the sample solutions on the results was examined. It was found that magnesium and calcium ions could be determined without any pretreatment by injecting 100-fold diluted seawater samples. Linear calibration graphs were obtained for standard solutions containing up to 10.0 mg/l of calcium ion when both peak area and peak height were used. On the other hand, a linear calibration graph was obtained for standard solutions containing up to 20.0 mg/l of magnesium ion when the peak area was used, while a curved one was obtained when the peak height was used. Relative standard deviations were 0.8 and 1.2% when a standard solution containing 5.0 mg/l of magnesium and 8.0 mg/l of calcium ions was analysed 8 times using the peak area. Limits of detection for magnesium and calcium ions were 0.13 and 0.26 mg/l, respectively. The proposed method was applied to the determination of magnesium and calcium ions in surface and bottom seawater samples.     

Direct determination of mercury in cosmetic samples by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after dissolution with formic acid

A new method was proposed for the accurate determination of mercury in cosmetic samples based on isotopic dilution (ID)-photochemical vapor generation (PVG)-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS) measurement. Cosmetic samples were directly dissolved in formic acid solution and subsequently subjected to PVG for the reduction of mercury into vapor species following by ICP MS detection. Therefore, the risks of analyte contamination and loss were avoided. Highly enriched ²⁰¹Hg isotopic spike is added to cosmetics and the isotope ratios of ²⁰¹Hg/²⁰²Hg were measured for the quantitation of mercury. With ID calibration, the influences originating from sample matrixes for the determination of mercury in cosmetic samples have been efficiently eliminated. The effects of several experimental parameters, such as the concentration of the formic acid, and the flow rates of carrier gas and sample were investigated. The method provided good reproducibility and the detection limits were found to be 0.6 pg mL⁻¹. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied for the determination of mercury in six cosmetic samples and a spike test was performed to verify the accuracy of the method.     

Peak Area: the Instrumental Datum to Improve the Determination at Ultratrace Level Concentration of Mercury(II) at Gold Electrode

Peak area as instrumental datum for determining the concentration of metals in solution instead of peak height is proposed for analytical voltammetric determinations. In the case of species present at ultra‐trace concentration level or having low reversibility degree electrodic processes, the employment of peak area permits to achieve limits of detection lower even more of one order of magnitude. The present work shows the possibility of determining, at ultratrace level concentration, mercury(II) by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV).     

Determination of mercurial species in fish by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with anion exchange chromatographic separation

This work demonstrated the feasibility of mercury speciation analysis by anion exchange chromatographic separation with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection. For the first time, by complexing with the mobile phase containing 3-mercapto-1-propanesulfonate into negatively charged complexes, fast separation of inorganic mercury (Hg²⁺), monomethylmercury (MeHg), ethylmercury (EtHg) and phenylmercury (PhHg) was achieved within 5 min on a 12.5-mm strong anion exchange column. The detection limits for Hg²⁺, MeHg, EtHg and PhHg were 0.008, 0.024, 0.029 and 0.034 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The relative standard deviations of peak height and peak area (5.0 μg L⁻¹ for each Hg species) were all below 3%. The determined contents of Hg²⁺, MeHg and total Hg in a certified reference material of fish tissue by the proposed method were in good accordance with the certified values with satisfactory recoveries. The relative errors for determining MeHg and total mercury were −2.4% and −1.2%, respectively, with an acceptable range for spike recoveries of 94–101%. Mercury speciation in 11 fish samples were then analyzed after the pretreated procedure. The mercury contents in all fish samples analyzed were found compliant with the criteria of the National Standards of China.     

Automatic chemiluminescence-based determination of carbaryl in various types of matrices

Carbaryl, a modern pesticide widely used for both agricultural and non-agricultural purposes, was determined from the chemiluminescence produced in its reaction with Ce(IV) in a nitric acid medium containing rhodamine 6G as sensitizer, using flow-injection techniques. A straightforward automatic method based on measurements peak height and peak area, which are directly proportional to the carbaryl concentration, was thus developed. Calibration graphs are linear over the concentration range from 50 to 2000 ng mL⁻¹. The limit of detection, as determined according to Clayton, is 45.6 and 28.7 ng mL⁻¹ for peak height and peak area measurements, respectively. The relative standard deviation for 10 samples was less than 1.4% with both types of measurements. Two commercial formulations containing carbaryl were analysed using both types of measurements, which provided acceptable recovery values. Solid-phase extraction was used to concentrate and separate the analyte from the matrix. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of spiked water samples as well as in soil and grain samples. The proposed method exhibited a high selectivity no other pesticide containing the naphthalene group such as antu, napropamide or naftalam, etc., was found to interfere with the determination of carbaryl.     

Annotation paper Interference by volatile nitrogen oxides in the determination of mercury by flow injection cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry

The determination of mercury by the title method with sodium tetrahydroborate as reducing agent can be interfered with by volatile nitrogen oxides which inhibit the reduction of mercury by scavenging the reducing agent. The nitrogen oxides are formed as reduction products of nitric acid during sample decomposition. The interference effect was encountered in the determination of mercury in sewage sludge digests, and the main symptom was poor reproducibility of the shape of the mercury peak. The area of the mercury peak is more resistant to the interference than the peak height. The nitrogen oxide interference did not cause any systematic error in the mercury determination when calibration was done by standard addition. The interference can be easily remedied by purging the sample with argon.     

A processing method enabling the use of peak height for accurate and precise proton NMR quantitation

In NMR, peak area quantitation is the most common method used because the area under a peak or peak group is proportional to the number of nuclei at those frequencies. Peak height quantitation has not enjoyed as much utility because of poor precision and linearity as a result of inconsistent shapes and peak widths (measured at half height). By using a post‐acquisition processing method employing a Gaussian or line‐broadening (exponential decay) apodization (i.e. weighting function) to normalize the shape and width of the internal standard (ISTD) peak, the heights of an analyte calibration spectrum can be compared to the analyte peaks in a sample spectrum resulting in accurate and precise quantitative results. Peak height results compared favorably with ‘clean’ peak area results for several hundred illicit samples of methamphetamine HCl, cocaine HCl, and heroin HCl, of varying composition and purity. Using peak height and peak area results together can enhance the confidence in the reported purity value; a major advantage in high throughput, automated quantitative analyses. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of differentiation and smoothing in linear-sweep and staircase stripping voltammetry of some metals

Two methods of signal smoothing were considered: square-wave (moving average) and triangular (weighted average) filters. It was found that smoothing by these two filters did not distort noticeably the signal shape and the linearity of calibration plots. Calibration plots for several series of analytical signals of heavy metals were studied. Analytical signals were obtained by stripping voltammetry using a mercury thin-film electrode and processed using the peak area, the peak height, and the range of the extrema of the first and second peak derivatives. It was shown that, for staircase stripping voltammetry, the linearity of calibration plots decreases substantially in this series of signal processing methods. For linear sweep, calibration plots were linear over the entire concentration range for all signal-processing methods. Presented at the V All-Russian Conference with the Participation of CIS Countries on Electrochemical Methods of Analysis (EM A-99), Moscow, December 6–8, 1999.     

Determination of Diclofenac Sodium in Synovial Fluid by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

Due to the limited supply of blank synovial fluid, the usual practice of preparing a calibration curve for the biological sample of measurement is not practical for synovial fluid drug level determination. The linearity and correlation of peak height ratio between plasma and synovial fluid samples were investigated in this study. Excellent linear relationship is obtained from the calibration curves for both biological samples. In addition, excellent correlation of peak height ratios between plasma and synovial fluid indicates that the plasma calibration curve can be used in lieu of a synovial fluid calibration curve (slope 0.9154; intercept not statistically different than zero; and r-0.999 with N=13). According to this linear relationship, synovial fluid levels can be calculated based on the concentration as determined from the plasma calibration curve and divided by 0.9154. The extraction efficiences were comparable when diclofenac was spiked into human plasma or synovial fluid samples but the extraction of internal standard is better from synovial fluid than from plasma. The results are in good agreement with those observed in correlation between plasma and synovial fluid. Linearity and sensitivity of diclofenac in synovial fluid were determined in this study, but precision, accuracy and specificity were not determined due to the difficulty to obtain blank synovial fluid. Nevertheless, the same assay has been applied to plasma where all parameters have been well established and it is reasonable to assume the same results would have been obtained from synovial fluid samples.     

赖氨酸与香草醛反应产物的极谱波特征及其分析应用

研究了赖氨酸与香草醛反应产物的极谱波特征并建立了赖氨酸的分析方法。在0.1mol/L磷酸盐缓冲溶液中赖氨酸与香草醛反应的产物于－1.16V产生灵敏的极谱波,赖氨酸浓度在5×10     

Matrix interferences in the determination of trace elements in waste waters by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with ultrasonic nebulization

The use of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with ultrasonic nebulization (USN-ICP-AES) for determining Ag, Al, As, Ba, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sr, V and Zn in complex matrices of Ca, Na, K and P in waste waters is described. Generally, depressions in the analyte emission intensity occur in the presence of concomitants. Matrix interferences can be minimized by increasing the operating power and lowering the carrier gas flow rate. However, the enhancement of the signal-to-background ratios (SBRs) shows an opposite trend. Therefore, routine analyses were performed at a compromise power setting of 1,350 W, a carrier gas flow rate of 0.8 L min(-1) and an observation height of 14 mm above the load coil and using a matrix matched calibration procedure. Limits of detection (LODs) at chosen operating conditions were at microg L(-1) levels for most of the elements studied, including mercury when KBr is added to the analyte solution to enhance sensitivity. LODs were not significantly changed in the presence of matrix elements. Recoveries for the majority of added elements from spiked waste water samples are between 93 and 105% using a matrix matched calibration.     

Trace determination of zinc in standard alloys, environmental and pharmaceutical samples by fourth derivative spectrophotometry using 1-2-(thiazolylazo)-2-naphthol as reagent and ammonium tetraphenylborate supported on naphthalene as adsorbent

A highly sensitive, selective, economical and rapid method for the trace determination of zinc using fourth derivative spectrophotometry has been proposed with 1-2-(thiazolylazo)-2-naphthol (TAN) as an analytical reagent and ammonium tetraphenylborate (ATPB)-naphthalene as an adsorbent. Zn-TAN is quantitatively retained on ATPB naphthalene in the pH range 6.5-9.5. The calibration plot is linear in the concentration range 0.02-1.4 mug ml(-1) Zn of DMF solution. The sensitivity of the method as determined from the slope of the calibration plot is 2.640 (d(4)A/dlambda(4))/(mug ml(-1)). Nine replicate determinations of 5.0 mug of zinc in 5 ml of DMF give a mean signal height of 2.660 (peak to peak height between lambda(1)=597 nm and lambda(2)=585 nm) with a relative standard deviation of 1.1%. The various conditions have been optimized and the developed method has been used for the determination of zinc in standard alloys, environmental and pharmaceutical samples.     

Trace determination of molybdenum by adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry

Molybdenum is determined by adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry in 0.15 M nitric acid solution containing 15 μM 2′,3,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone (morin) as a ligand. In this medium, molybdenum is preconcentrated on a hanging mercury drop electrode and stripped cathodically in square-wave voltammetry mode, with a peak potential of -350 mV vs. Ag/AgCl (saturated KCl). The effect of various parameters (ligand concentration, supporting electrolyte composition, accumulation potential and collection time) on the sensitivity and linear range of the calibration curve are discussed. With controlled accumulation for 1 min, the detection limit (3σ) was 0.45 ng ml^?1 molybdenum and the calibration curve is linear up to 70 ng ml^?1. The procedure is applied to the determination of molybdenum in real samples with satisfactory results.     

Determination of Thallium by Graphite Furnace- Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with Atomization Under Pressure

Abstract

Atomization under pressure worsens peak height sensitivity of both the 276.79 and the 377.57 nm resonance lines. Peak area is also worsened as atomization pressure increases, though much less than peak height.

Atomization under pressure alters peak times. Most notable is the prolongation of mean residence time and delay of peak time. As a consequence of this vapor phase interferences are reduced.

Linearity of calibration curves is improved by pressure.     

Determination of gallic acid and salidroside in Rhodiola and its preparation by capillary electrophoresis

A new, simple, and rapid capillary electrophoresis (CE) method employing hexadimethrine bromide (HDB) as electroosmotic flow (EOF) modifier was developed for the identification and quantitative determination of two pharmaceutically active constituents—gallic acid (GA) and salidroside (S)—in extracts of Rhodiola root and its medicinal preparation. The optimum separation was achieved at pH 11.00 with the use of 10 mM borate buffer containing 0.001% (w/v) of HDB. The applied voltage was ∼15 kV and the capillary temperature was kept constant at 25°C. m-Phthalic acid was used as an internal standard for quantification. The calibration dependences exhibited good linearity for the ratios of the concentrations of standard samples and internal standard and the ratios of the peak area of samples and internal standard over the concentration range from 24 to 1200 μg/mL for GA and 2.4 to 72 μg/mL for S. The correlation coefficients were 0.9999 and 0.9997, and the detection limits of the CE method corresponding to a signal-to-noise ratio of three were 6 and 2 μg/mL for GA and S, respectively. The relative standard deviations of the relative migration time and the relative peak area of samples were 0.5 and 4.0% for GA and 1.9 and 5.3% for S. The effects of buffer pH and the concentration of HDB on the resolution were studied systematically. The contents of these two active compounds in Rhodiola root and its preparation were successfully determined over 6 min with satisfactory repeatability and recovery. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Calibration of laser-ablation ICP-MS. Can we use synthetic standards with pneumatic nebulization?

An approach for the determination of trace element concentrations in high purity metals, using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) with a laser-ablation system for direct solid sample introduction after calibration with nebulized liquid standards was made. Due to the inherent differences in the rate of sample introduction with laser-ablation and pneumatic nebulization, a matrix element must be used as an internal standard. This is problematical for elements that have no isotope with a relative abundance of less than 0.1 %, since the ion signals would be too high for direct measurement, and reduction of the ablation rate would compromise the sensitivity for trace elements. Due to the high stability of ICP-unit and mass filter of the instrument used, it was found that the tail of a mass-peak of the matrix element could be used as an internal standard. Therefore, a position at –0.5 amu from the matrix-isotope (e.g. ^62.5Cu in copper samples) was used for internal standardization. The standard deviation of this signal in a period of 2.5 h was 3.6% RSD with no notable drift when the laser ablation was used for sample introduction. The calibration of the matrix-element by nebulizing liquid standards showed that the ion signal measured on the peak-tail is directly proportional to the element concentration in the ICP. This indicates that the peak shape is not only stable, but also independent of the peak height. The advantages of this method lie in the easy preparation of calibration standards for quantitative measurements with a laser-ablation system and access to homogeneous standards for materials, that are difficult to homogenize in the solid state. The calibration of the traces is performed relatively to a fixed concentration of the matrix element. Calibrations were carried out for trace concentrations in high purity copper and good recoveries were obtained for high-purity reference standards. Received: 23 February 1998 / Revised: 20 July 1998 / Accepted: 25 July 1998     

Matrix interferences in the determination of trace elements in waste waters by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with ultrasonic nebulization

The use of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with ultrasonic nebulization (USN-ICP-AES) for determining Ag, Al, As, Ba, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sr, V and Zn in complex matrices of Ca, Na, K and P in waste waters is described. Generally, depressions in the analyte emission intensity occur in the presence of concomitants. Matrix interferences can be minimized by increasing the operating power and lowering the carrier gas flow rate. However, the enhancement of the signal-to-background ratios (SBRs) shows an opposite trend. Therefore, routine analyses were performed at a compromise power setting of 1350 W, a carrier gas flow rate of 0.8 L min^–1 and an observation height of 14 mm above the load coil and using a matrix matched calibration procedure. Limits of detection (LODs) at chosen operating conditions were at μg L^–1 levels for most of the elements studied, including mercury when KBr is added to the analyte solution to enhance sensitivity. LODs were not significantly changed in the presence of matrix elements. Recoveries for the majority of added elements from spiked waste water samples are between 93 and 105% using a matrix matched calibration. Received: 13 January 2000 / Revised: 10 April 2000 / Accepted: 18 April 2000