Analysis of 500-ng/l levels of bromate in drinking water by direct-injection suppressed ion chromatography coupled with a single, pneumatically delivered post-column reagent

In July 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began sampling and analyzing drinking water matrices from US municipalities serving populations greater than 100 000 for low-level bromate (>0.20 μg/l) in support of the Information Collection Rule (ICR) using the selective anion concentration (SAC) method. In September 1997, EPA published Method 300.1 which lowered the Method 300.0 bromate method detection limit (MDL) from 20.0 to 1.4 μg/l. This paper describes the research conducted at the EPA’s Technical Support Center laboratory investigating a single post-column reagent, o-dianisidine (ODA), which has been successfully coupled to EPA Method 300.1 to extend the MDL for bromate. Initial studies indicate that this method offers a MDL which approaches the EPA’s SAC method with the added benefit of increased specificity, shortened analysis time and reduced sample preparation. The method provides excellent ruggedness and acceptable precision and accuracy with a bromate MDL in reagent water of 0.1 μg/l, and a method reporting limit of 0.50 μg/l.     

Simultaneous determination of inorganic disinfection by-products and the seven standard anions by ion chromatography

For the first time, an ion chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of the disinfection by-products bromate, chlorite, chlorate, and the so-called seven standard anions, fluoride, chloride, nitrite, sulfate, bromide, nitrate and orthophosphate is presented. The separation of the ten anions was carried out using a laboratory-made high-capacity anion-exchanger. The high capacity anion-exchanger allowed the direct injection of large sample volumes without any sample pretreatment, even in the case of hard water samples. For quantification of fluoride, chloride, nitrite, sulfate, bromide, nitrate, orthophosphate and chlorate, a conductivity detection method was applied after chemical suppression. The post-column reaction, based on chlorpromazine, was optimized for the determination of chlorite and bromate. The method detection limit for bromate measured in deionized water is 100 ng/l and for chlorite, it is 700 ng/l. In hard drinking water, the method’s detection limits are 700 ng/l (bromate) and 3.5 μg/l (chlorite). The method’s detection limits for the other eight anions, determined by conductivity detection, are between 100 μg/l (nitrite) and 1.6 mg/l (chlorate).     

Spectrophotometric simultaneous determination of nitrite, nitrate and ammonium in soils by flow injection analysis

A new rapid flow injection procedure for the simultaneous determination of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium in single flow injection analysis system is proposed. The procedure combines on-line reduction of nitrate to nitrite and oxidation of ammonium to nitrite with spectrophotometric detection of nitrite by using the Griess-llosvay reaction. The formed azo dye was measured at 543 nm. The influence of reagent concentration and manifold parameters were studied. Nitrite, nitrate and ammonium can be determined within the range of 0.02–1.60 μg mL⁻¹, 0.02–1.60 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.05–1.40 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. R.S.D. values (n = 10) were 2.66; 1.41 and 3.58 for nitrate, nitrite and ammonium, respectively. This procedure allows the determination and speciation of inorganic nitrogen species in soils with a single injection in a simple way, and high sampling rate (18 h⁻¹). Detection limits of 0.013, 0.046 and 0.047 μg mL⁻¹were achieved for nitrate, nitrite and ammonium, respectively. In comparison with others methods, the proposed one is more simple, it uses as single chromogenic reagent less injection volume (250 mL in stead of 350 mL) and it has a higher sampling rate.     

Enzymatic determination of phenols using peanut peroxidase

The influence of phenol and its derivatives on the kinetics of oxidation of aryldiamines (indicator-substrates) catalyzed by novel plant peroxidase—cationic peanut peroxidase—was studied. The character of influence of phenols on the kinetics of enzymatic oxidation of benzidine, o-dianisidine, and 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) with hydrogen peroxide was found to depend on a correlation between redox properties of phenols and the indicator-substrate of peroxidase. Thus, the catalytic activity of peanut peroxidase is inhibited by phenols with redox potentials higher than that of aryldiamines mentioned above, whereas phenols with potentials below those of aryldiamines, play the role of second substrates of the enzyme. The enzymatic procedures for the determination of numerous phenols on the level of their concentrations 0.05–80 μM were developed using the reactions of benzidine, o-dianisidine, and TMB oxidation. Different analytical signals—the indicator reaction rate and the induction period duration—were used for the determination of phenols, belonging to various groups—the inhibitors and second substrates of the enzyme, respectively.     

Simple flow-injection system for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in water samples

A novel spectrophotometric reaction system was developed for the determination of nitrite as well as nitrate in water samples, and was applied to a flow-injection analysis (FIA). The spectrophotometric flow-injection system coupled with a copperised cadmium reductor column was proposed. The detection was based on the nitrosation reaction between nitrite ion and phloroglucinol (1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene), a commercially available phenolic compound. Sample injected into a carrier stream was split into two streams at the Y-shaped connector. One of the streams merged directly and reacted with the reagent stream: nitrite ion in the samples was detected. The other stream was passed through the copperised cadmium reductor column, where the reduction of nitrate to nitrite occurred, and the sample zone was then mixed with the reagent stream and passed through the detector: the sum of nitrate and nitrite was detected. The optimised conditions allow a linear calibration range of 0.03–0.30 μg NO₂⁻-N ml⁻¹ and 0.10–1.00 μg NO₃⁻-N ml⁻¹. The detection limits for nitrite and nitrate, defined as three times the standard deviation of measured blanks are 2.9 ng NO₂⁻-N ml⁻¹ and 2.3 ng NO₃⁻-N ml⁻¹, respectively. Up to 20 samples can be analyzed per hour with a relative standard deviation of less than 1.5%. The proposed method could be applied successfully to the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in water samples.     

Use of ion chromatography with post-column reaction for the measurement of tribromide to evaluate bromate levels in drinking water

A user-friendly ion chromatography method in conjunction with a post-column reaction (PCR) achieves practical quantitation limits for the oxyhalides bromate and chlorite of 0.05 μg/l and 0.10 μg/l, respectively. This level of measurement allows for the accurate assessment of bromate contributed to finished drinking waters that have been chlorinated using sodium hypochlorite. The target sensitivity of oxyhalides in the presence of other major ion species typically found in drinking water is achieved by PCR using excess bromide under acidic conditions to form a tribromide species that is detected by ultraviolet spectrometry. The method setup involves non-hazardous materials, as opposed to other recently developed methods that employ somewhat hazardous chemicals for generating the reaction necessary for the detection of bromate at sub-μg/l levels. No pretreatment of the samples is required, other than filtration and quenching of oxidant residual.     

Combination of suppressed and non-suppressed ion chromatography with atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry for the determination of anions

Non-suppressed and suppressed ion chromatography in combination with atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry are compared with special respect to sensitivity for the analysis of low-molecular-mass anions. Iodate, bromate, bromide, sulfate, thiosulfate and bromide could be separated by non-suppressed ion chromatography using a low-capacity anion-exchange column and ammonium citrate as mobile phase. Absolute detection limits between 0.4 and 0.7 ng could be achieved; employing a column requiring a flow-rate of 1 ml/min for optimum performance, splitting was necessary so that only 120 μl/min entered the interface of the mass spectrometer resulting in detection limits between 0.03 and 0.06 mg/l. The same stationary phase (packed into a narrow-bore column which allowed operation without splitting) was suitable for the separation of oxyhalides in the suppressed mode with detection limits of 0.5 μg/l (50 pg) with sodium carbonate as eluent. The method was applied to the analysis of drinking water for oxyhalides. The sample pretreatment for the removal of matrix anions (sulfate, chloride and hydrogencarbonate) is described.     

The fluorometric determination of o-phthalic acid

A fluorometric procedure for the determination of o-phthalic acid by conversion to fluoresceln is described. The optimum amount of o-phthalic acid for application of the method is 50–5000 μg. The determination can be carried out with a relative error of less than 5% even when significant quantities of common o-phthalic acid contaminants are present.     

A sensitive flow-injection method for determination of trace amounts of nitrite

A new sensitive colour reaction for nitrite determination is presented. In acidic medium, nitrite was reacted with safranine to form a diazonium salt which caused the reddish-orange dye colour of the solution to change to blue. The carrier stream, into which the sample solution was injected, was doubly distilled water. The reagent solution stream, which contained safranine dye, hydrochloric acid and potassium chloride, was mixed with the carrier in a 3-m length of silicon tubing (bore 0.5 mm) maintained at 30°C in a thermostatic bath. The absorbance intensity was measured at 520 nm. The detection limit was 20 ng ml⁻¹ and the RSD% of 20 injections of 1 μg ml⁻¹ of nitrite was 0.65%. Analysis can be done at a rate of up to 30 h⁻¹. Under the optimum conditions in the concentration range of 30–4000 ng ml⁻¹ of nitrite ion, a linear calibration graph was obtained (r=0.9999). The method was applied successfully to the determination of nitrite in sausages.     

Chemiluminescent determination of pyridoxine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical samples using flow injection

A chemiluminescent method using flow injection is described for the determination of pyridoxine hydrochloride. Its detection limit, linearity and reproducibility were examined. The method is based on the enhancing effect of pyridoxine hydrochloride on the chemiluminescence generated by the oxidation of luminol with hydrogen peroxide in aqueous potassium hydroxide and sodium oxalate. The proposed method is simple and inexpensive. The chemiluminescence intensity is a linear function of pyridoxine hydrochloride concentration over the range 10–250 μg ml⁻¹ with a detection limit of 6 μg ml⁻¹. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by the determination of pyridoxine hydrochloride in different tablet formulations and some dietary sources.     

Determination of trace level perchlorate in drinking water and ground water by ion chromatography

Ammonium perchlorate, a key ingredient in solid rocket propellants, has recently been found in ground and surface waters in the USA in a number of states, including California, Nevada, Utah, and West Virginia. Perchlorate poses a health risk and preliminary data from the US Environmental Protection Agency reports that exposure to less than 4–18 μg/l provides adequate human health protection. An ion chromatographic method was developed for the determination of low μg/l levels of perchlorate in drinking and ground waters based on a Dionex IonPac AS11 column, a 100 mM hydroxide eluent, large loop (1000 μl) injection, and suppressed conductivity detection. The method is free of interferences from common anions, linear in the range of 2.5–100 μg/l, and quantitative recoveries were obtained for low μg/l levels of perchlorate in spiked drinking and ground water samples. The method detection limit of 0.3 μg/l permits quantification of perchlorate below the levels which ensure adequate health protection. A new polarizable anion analysis column, the IonPac AS16, and its potential applicability for this analysis is also discussed.     

Ion chromatographic determination of trace iodate, chlorite, chlorate, bromide, bromate and nitrite in drinking water using suppressed conductivity detection and visible detection

An ion chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of trace iodate, chlorite, chlorate, bromide, bromate and nitrite in drinking water has been developed using an anion-exchange column and the suppressed conductivity detector, followed by post-column addition of reagent to enhance visible absorbance detection of ions. A high capacity anion exchange Ion Pac9-HC column (250 mm x 4 mm I.D.) was used. Eight millimole per liter sodium carbonate was used as eluent, an auto-suppression external water mode was selected, 0.5 g/l o-dianisidine.2HCl (ODA)+4.5 g/l KBr+25% methanel+5.6% nitric acid was used as post-column reagent. The post-column reaction (PCR) temperature was at 60 degrees C, and the visible absorbance detected wavelength at 450 nm. The sample's pH and coexist anions had no influence on determination. The method enjoyed a wide linear range and a good linear correlation coefficient (r>0.999). The method detection limits were between 0.023 and 2.0 microg/l. The average recoveries ranged from 87.5 to 110.0%, and the relative standard deviations (RSD) were in the range of 1.1-4.6%. The analytical results by the method of post-column addition of reagent to enhance visible absorbance detection of anions was compared with that of the suppressed conductivity detection, and the former was proved to be better in sensitivity and selectivity. The results showed that this method was accurate, sensitive and might be good for application and suitable for trace analysis at the level of mug/l.     

Determination of silver in ores, concentrates, zinc process solutions, copper metal and copper-base alloys by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry after separation by extraction of the tribenzylamine-silver bromide complex

A method for determining 0.1 μg/g or more of silver in ores and concentrates and 0.001 μg/ml or more of silver in zinc process solutions is described. Silver is separated from the matrix elements by chloroform extraction of the tribenzylamine—silver bromide ion-association complex from 0.08M potassium bromide—2M sulphuric acid and stripped with 9M hydrobromic acid. This solution is evaporated to dryness and organic material is destroyed with nitric and perchloric acids. Silver is determined by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry in an air—acetylene flame, at 328.1 nm, in a 10% v/v hydrochloric acid—1% v/v diethylenetriamine medium. Cadmium, bismuth and molybdenum are partly co-extracted but do not interfere. The method is also applicable to copper metal and copper-base alloys. Results obtained by this method are compared with those obtained by a fire-assay/atomic-absorption method.     

Speciation of halogenides and oxyhalogens by ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A speciation method utilizing ion chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is described for simultaneous analysis of eight halogenides and oxyhalogens: chloride, chlorite, chlorate, perchlorate, bromide, bromate, iodide and iodate. The method was applied for the analysis of drinking water samples collected from water treatment plants in areas in Finland, which are known to have high bromine concentrations in ground water. Water samples collected before and after disinfection were analyzed to get information about potential species conversion as a result of purification. Chloride and chlorate were the chlorine species found in these water samples, and iodine existed as both iodate and iodide. In the case of bromine, species conversion had taken place, since total bromine concentrations were increased during disinfection but bromide concentrations were decreased. No bromate was observed in the samples. The detection limits for all the chlorine species studied were 500 μg/l, for bromine species studied 10 μg/l, for iodide 0.1 μg/l and for iodate 0.2 μg/l.     

Liquid chromatographic methods for chloral hydrate determination

Liquid chromatographic methods, based on reversed-phase (RP) and anion-exchange mechanisms, have been developed for chloral hydrate determination. Both methods are preceeded by derivatization of chloral hydrate. For RP separations, different reagents [namely dansylhydrazine and o-(4-nitrobenzyl)hydroxylamine] have been studied, but the best results have been achieved using 1,2-benzenedithiol with UV detection at 220 nm. The anion-exchange method is based on derivatization with NaOH to form sodium formate that is then analyzed by anion-exchange, with suppressed conductivity detection. Derivatization conditions were optimized in order to reach the best yield of reaction. The optimization of the procedure allowed to determine chloral hydrate with detection limits as low as 0.2 μg/l with good linearity and reproducibility. The anion-exchange method was also applied for chloral hydrate determination in a drinking water sample. A preconcentration procedure has also been studied.     

Spectrophotometric reaction-rate method for the determination of nitrite in waters with pyridine-2-aldehyde 2-pyridylhydrazone

A method for the kinetic determination of submicrogram amounts of nitrite has been developed, based on its acceleration of the rate of bromate oxidation of pyridine-2-aldehyde 2-pyridylhydrazone in acidic medium. The reaction is monitored spectrophotometrically at 372 nm. A comparative study with hydrochloric acid and perchloric acid media shows that the analytical parameters are affected by the type of acid used. Within-day precision, based on ten replicate determinations, was better than 0.011 μ/ml, which corresponds to 2.2-1.5% relative standard deviation at the concentrations examined. Application of this method in the determination of nitrite in water has been discussed. The recovery of nitrite from drinking waters ranges from 90 to 117% and the average relative standard deviation for nitrite determinations in polluted river water is 3.2%. Large amounts of nitrate and ammonium ions do not interfere. However, there is interference by Cu²⁺, Pd²⁺ and electroactive substances. Major advantages for the method are simplicity, absence of a reagent blank, and the wide determination range.     

An on-line flow-injection microwave-assisted mineralization and a precipitation/dissolution system for the determination of molybdenum in blood serum and whole blood by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

An on-line flow injection (FI) precipitation–dissolution system with microwave-assisted sample digestion has been developed for the electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) determination of trace or ultratrace amounts of molybdenum in human blood serum and whole blood samples. After the exposure of the sample to microwave radiation, the on-line precipitation of molybdenum was achieved by the merging-zone of a 0.5-ml plug of sample with a plug of potassium ferrocyanide, which were carried downstream with a solution of 0.5 mol l⁻¹ of HNO₃. The interfering effects of iron and copper were minimized by the introduction of a flow of a 5% (w/v) sodium potassium tartrate (for iron) and 2% (w/v) of thiourea (for copper and zinc) in a 5% (v/v) ammonia and 2% (v/v) ammonium chloride solution previous to the precipitation reaction. The reddish-brown precipitate of molybdenyl ferrocyanide was collected on the walls of a knotted reactor. The precipitate was dissolved with the introduction of 1 ml of a 3.0 mol l⁻¹ NaOH solution and the best performance in terms of detection limit and precision was achieved when a sub-sample of 140 μl was collected in a capillary of a sampling arm assembly, to introduce 20 μl volumes into the atomizer by means of positive displacement with air through a time-based injector. A detection limit (3σ) of 0.1 μg Mo l⁻¹ using an aqueous standard solution was obtained. The method is quantitative and is applied over the range 0.2–20.0 μg Mo l⁻¹. The precision of the method evaluated by ten replicate analyses of aqueous standard solutions containing 0.5 and 1.0 μg Mo l⁻¹ was 2.8 and 3.1% (relative standard deviation, RSD) (for n=5), respectively. Whereas, the precision evaluated by five replicate analysis of a serum and a whole blood sample were 3.3 and 3.8% RSD. An enrichment factor of ca. 3.5 was achieved with the introduction of 0.5 ml aqueous standard solutions at a sample flow rate of 1.0 ml min⁻¹. Recoveries of spiked molybdenum in blood serum and whole blood were in the ranges 96–102 and 94–98%, respectively. The results obtained for two human whole blood certified reference materials were in good agreement with the indicative values.     

Kinetic spectrophotometric method for rapid determination of trace formaldehyde in foods

A simple and sensitive kinetic-spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of ultra trace amount of formaldehyde in food samples. The method was based on the oxidation of rhodamine B (RhB) by potassium bromate in sulfuric acid medium (formaldehyde as catalyst). The reaction was monitored by measuring the decrease in absorbance of the dye at 515 nm after 6 min. The developed method allowed the determination of formaldehyde in the range of 10–100 μg L⁻¹ with good precision, accuracy and the detection limit was down to 2.90 μg L⁻¹. The relative standard deviations for the determination of 10 and 60 μg L⁻¹ of formaldehyde were 3.0% and 1.9% (n = 10), respectively. The method was found to be sensitive, selective and was applied to the determination of formaldehyde in foods with satisfactory results.     

Chemiluminescence nitrogen detection in ion chromatography for the determination of nitrogen-containing anions

Chemiluminescence nitrogen detection (CLND) provides equimolar response for nitrogen-containing ions such as nitrate, nitrite, cyanide, ammonium and tetradecyltrimethylammonium. Only azide yields a lower response. Nitrite, azide and nitrate are separated on a Dionex AS11 column using 5 mM NaOH as eluent with a 3 μM (1 ng N) limit of detection. Matrices, such as 1:10 diluted seawater, do not degrade these detection limits. CLND also provides equally sensitive (limit of detection 3 μM, 78 ppb) detection of weak acids such, as cyanide, which yield poor sensitivity with suppressed conductivity detection.     

Gas chromatographic determination of nitrite in water by precolumn formation of 2-phenylphenol with flame ionization detection

Nitrite can be determined by its reaction with 2-aminobiphenyl in acidic medium to produce 2-phenylphenol which is quantified by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection using biphenyl as an internal standard. The hydrolysis of the intermediate diazonium ion avoids many of the problems encountered in the conventional determination of nitrite by the diazotization of an aromatic amine (usually sulphanilamide) and coupling with N-(1-napthyl)ethylenediamine dihydrochloride to yield an azo dye followed by spectrophotometry. Unlike this method, the proposed reaction is rapid and does not suffer from interferences by copper(II), iron(III) and lead(II). The calibration graph was linear over the range 5–1000 μg/l NO₂-N and the limit of detection found to be 0.5 μg/l NO₂-N. A single analysis can be completed within 20 min. The method was not affected by coloured or turbid analyte solutions and has been used to determine nitrite in natural waters.