Two rapid and sensitive automated methods for the determination of nitrite and nitrate in soil samples

Spectrophotometric flow injection methods were developed for the individual determination of nitrite or nitrate, and for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate, in soil samples. Nitrite was determined directly using a modified version of the Griess-Ilosvay diazo-coupling reaction, measuring at 543 nm the absorbance of the azo-dye complex formed. Simultaneous nitrite and nitrate determinations were based on on-line nitrate reduction in a micro column containing copperised cadmium. A single chromogenic reagent containing all the necessary reactants was used in both methods. For determinations, the chemical and instrumental variables were optimised by univariate analysis and simplex chemometric method. The optimised conditions gave a linear calibration range between 0.05 and 1.6 µg m L^− 1 for N-NO₂⁻ and between 0.05 and 7.0 µg m L^− 1 for N-NO₃⁻. The detection limits for nitrite and nitrate were 22 µg L^− 1 and 44 µg L^− 1 respectively. The proposed methods allowed up to 35-40 samples per hour to be analysed with good precision. The simultaneous method was successfully used for the determination of nitrite and nitrate in soil samples (the results obtained were validated against those obtained by reference methods). The proposed methods are simpler and faster than conventional methods and could be routinely used in environmental monitoring laboratories.     

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.     

Flow injection catalytic spectrophotometric simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate

A new flow injection catalytic spectrophotometric method is proposed for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate based on the catalytic effect of nitrite on the redox reaction between crystal violet and potassium bromate in phosphoric acid medium and nitrate being on-line reduced to nitrite with a cadmium-coated zinc reduction column. The redox reaction is monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in the absorbance of crystal violet at the maximum absorption wavelength of 610 nm. A technique of inserting a reduction column into sampling loop is adopted and the flow injection system produces a signal with a shoulder. The height of shoulder in the ascending part of the peak corresponds to the nitrite concentration and the maximum of the peak corresponds to nitrate plus nitrite. The detection limits are 0.3 ng ml⁻¹ for nitrite and 1.0 ng ml⁻¹ for the nitrate. Up to 32 samples can be analyzed per hour with a relative standard deviation of less than 2%. The method has been successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in natural waters.     

毛细管离子电泳法同时测定腌菜中硝酸根和亚硝酸根

以溴离子(Br-)为内标,建立了毛细管离子电泳同时测定腌菜中的硝酸根和亚硝酸根的方法。讨论了缓冲液pH、样品和缓冲液中氯化钠浓度、分离电压对分离的影响。结果表明:以含1mol LNaCl的40mmol LH3PO4 NaOH缓冲-、-得到基线分离。NO3-和NO2液(pH3.5)为背景电解质,4min内Br-、NO3-检出限分别为0.1g L和0.3g L,峰面积相对标准偏差分别为4.6%和NO25 8%。     

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.     

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry with isotope dilution for the analysis of nitrate and nitrite in water

A new method was developed for the analysis of nitrate and nitrite in a variety of water matrices by using reversed-phase liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry in the negative ion mode. For this direct analysis method, nitrate and nitrite anions were well separated under the optimized LC conditions, detected by monitoring m/z 62 and m/z 46 ions, and quantitated by using an isotope dilution technique that utilized the isotopically labeled analogs. The method sensitivity, accuracy, and precision were investigated, along with matrix effects resulting from common inorganic matrix anions. The isotope dilution technique, along with sample pretreatment using barium, silver, and hydrogen cartridges, effectively compensated for the ionization suppression caused by the major water matrix anions, including chloride, sulfate, phosphate, and carbonate. The method detection limits, based on seven reagent water replicates fortified at 0.01 mg N/L nitrate and 0.1 mg N/L nitrite, were 0.001 mg N/L for nitrate and 0.012-0.014 mg N/L for nitrite. The mean recoveries from the replicate fortified reagent water and lab water samples containing the major water matrix anions, were 92-103% for nitrate with an imprecision (relative standard deviation, RSD) of 0.4-2.1% and 92-110% for nitrite with an RSD of 1.1-4.4%. For the analysis of nitrate and nitrite in drinking water, surface water, and groundwater samples, the obtained results were generally consistent with those obtained from the reference methods. The mean recoveries from the replicate matrix spikes were 92-123% for nitrate with an RSD of 0.6-7.7% and 105-113% for nitrite with an RSD of 0.3-1.8%.     

Determination of nitrite and nitrate in human serum

A simple and effective assay for nitrite and nitrate in human serum has been developed using ion chromatography. Initial experiments using isocratic carbonate-bicarbonate elution with conductivity detection on a Dionex QIC system with an AS4A-SC column showed promise but were unsatisfactory because of co-elution problems with nitrite. Carbonate and chloride were investigated as eluents using a gradient system, and direct UV detection at 214 nm was used in place of conductivity detection. Dionex AS4A, AS9A, AS12, Nucleopac PA-100 and Carbopac PA-100 columns were compared for selectivity and resistance to overload. The final method, using a chloride concentration gradient, pH buffering and direct UV detection with a Carbopac PA-100 column, shows good resolution, does not suffer from chloride overload and is simple to use. The method is being used in an investigation of the role of nitric oxide in pre-eclampsia, a hypertensive disorder during pregnancy.     

Selective determination method for measurement of nitrite and nitrate in water samples using high-performance liquid chromatography with post-column photochemical reaction and chemiluminescence detection

A simple, sensitive and selective method for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in water samples has been developed. The method is based on ion-exchange separation, online photochemical reaction, and luminol chemiluminescence detection. The separation of nitrite and nitrate was achieved using an anion-exchange column with a 20 mM borate buffer (pH 10.0). After the separation, these ions were converted to peroxynitrite by online UV irradiation using a low-pressure mercury lamp and then mixed with a luminol solution prepared with carbonate buffer (pH 10.0). The calibration graphs of the nitrite and nitrate were linear in the range from 2.0 × 10⁻⁹ to 2.5 × 10⁻⁶ M and 2.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 2.5 × 10⁻⁵ M, respectively. Since the sensitivity of nitrite was about 10 times higher than that of nitrate, the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in the water samples could be efficiently achieved. This method was successfully applied to various water samples – river water, pond water, rain water, commercial mineral water, and tap water – with only filtration and dilution steps.     

Simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in human plasma by on-capillary preconcentration with field-amplified sample stacking

A simple method for the determination of nitrite and nitrate in human plasma has been developed using CZE with minimal sample preparation. Field‐amplified sample stacking (FASS) was used to achieve submicromolar detection by dilution of the plasma sample with deionized water. In CZE, the separation of nitrite and nitrate was achieved within 10 min without adding EOF modifier. The optimal condition was achieved with 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 9.3. The ninefold diluted plasma samples were injected hydrodynamically for 40 s into a 60 cm×75 μm id uncoated fused‐silica capillary. The separation voltage was 20 kV (negative potential) and UV detection was performed at 214 nm. The linearity curves for nitrite and nitrate were obtained by the standard addition method. The estimated LODs for nitrite and nitrate in ninefold diluted plasma sample were 0.05 and 0.07 μM, respectively. The LODs for nitrite and nitrate in original plasma samples were 0.45 and 0.63 μM. The intra‐ and inter‐day precisions for both analytes were <2.6% and the recovery ranged between 92.3 and 113.3%. It was found that nitrite was more stable than nitrate in the plasma after the sample preparation. This proposed method was applied to a number of human plasma samples and the measured nitrite and nitrate concentrations in human plasma were consistent with the literature ranges.     

Rapid simultaneous determination of nitrate and nitrite on a centrifugal microfluidic device

A centrifugal microfluidic device was developed for the rapid sequential determination of two critical environmental species, nitrate and nitrite, in water samples. The nitrate is reduced to nitrite and the nitrite is derivatized. The analytes are determined spectrophotometrically through the disc with a 1.4 mm pathlength. The detection limits are 0.05 and 0.16 mg L⁻¹ for nitrite and nitrate respectively. The use of powdered reagents, the 100 μL sample required and the design of the device suggest that it would be suitable for field use.     

Quantification of nitrite and nitrate in seawater by triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate derivatization-headspace SPME GC-MS

Triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate derivatization combined with direct headspace (HS) or SPME-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is proposed here for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in seawater at micromolar level after conversion to their corresponding volatile ethyl-esters (EtO-NO and EtO-NO₂). Isotopically enriched nitrite [¹⁵N] and nitrate [¹⁵N] are employed as internal standards and for quantification purposes. HS-GC-MS provided instrumental detection limits of 0.07 μM NO₂⁻ and 2 μM NO₃⁻. Validation of the methodology was achieved by determination of nitrite and nitrate in MOOS-1 (Seawater Certified Reference Material for Nutrients, NRC Canada), yielding results in excellent agreement with certified values. All critical aspects connected with the potential inter-conversion between nitrite and nitrate (less than 10%) were evaluated and corrected for by the use of the isotopically enriched internal standard.     

A novel spectrofluorimetric method for the ultra trace analysis of nitrite and nitrate in aqueous medium and its application to air, water, soil and forensic samples

A highly sensitive and virtually specific method has been developed for the trace and ultra trace 5 ng ml⁻¹-1 μg ml⁻¹ fluorimetric analysis of nitrite. The method is based on the quenching action of nitrite on the native fluorescence of murexide (ammonium purpurate) [λ_ex=349.0 nm, λ_em=444.5 nm] in the acid range of 0.045-0.315 (M) H₂SO₄. The method is very precise and accurate (S.D.=±0.4877 and R.S.D.=0.4878% for the determination of 0.1 μg ml⁻¹ of nitrite in 11 replicates). Relatively large excesses of over 35 cations and anions do not interfere. The proposed technique has been successfully applied for the determination of nitrite and nitrate in ground water, surface water and sea water, nitrite in soil and nitrate in forensic samples. The method has also been extended for the analysis of NO_x in air.     

A rapid technique for determination of nitrate and nitric acid by acid reduction and diazotization at elevated temperature

A rapid technique for determination of nitrate by acid reduction and diazotization at elevated temperature has been standardized. The technique is based on quantitative diazotization of sulfanilamide by nitrate on incubation in boiling water bath for 3, 5 or 10 min in presence of high concentration of HCl, ca. 64.5%. The diazotized sulfanilamide is coupled at room temperature to N-1-(naphthyl)-ethylenediamine dihydrochloride, and the chromophore evaluated spectrophotometrically at 540 nm. The technique provides linear estimate of nitrate over the test range of 0.5 through 10 μg N mL⁻¹ sample with all test incubation time periods using alkali nitrate and nitric acid as sources of nitrate anion. Urea treatment enables selective determination of nitrate in presence of nitrite with overall 99 ± 1% recovery, and without affecting nitrate determination (P > 0.1) or its regression coefficient. The technique has obvious advantages over metal-reduction technique. It is simple, rapid, selective in presence of nitrite, and an inexpensive method for routine determination of nitrate with detection range 0.5–10 μg N mL⁻¹ sample. Besides, the technique provides opportunity to detect nitric acid as low as 35 μM even in presence of other acids.     

离子交换柱后衍生流动注射分光光度在线连续测定水中NO2-和NO3-

建立了连续测定NO2-和NO3-的柱后在线衍生结合流动注射光度分析体系.阴离子交换柱(HPIC-AS3)分离水样中的NO2-和NO3-,洗脱液依次将NO2-和NO3-洗脱流经镀铜镉还原柱,NO3-在线还原为NO2-,与对氨基苯磺酸溶液和N-(1-萘基)-乙二胺溶液合并,在λmax=500 nm处对NO2-和NO3-产生的红色染料进行光度连续检测.NO2-和NO3-的线性范围分别为0.01～1.0mg/L和0.02～2.0 mg/L,检出限分别为0.004和0.008 ng/L.方法用于雨水、湖水和自来水中痕量NO2-和NO3-的同时连续测定.     

Application of capillary zone electrophoresis to the analysis and to a stability study of nitrite and nitrate in saliva

The applicability of capillary zone electrophoresis for the determinations of nitrite and nitrate was studied. Using direct UV detection the limit of detection values of the analytes were 0.14 and 0.21 microg/mL, respectively. The developed method was found to be useful to directly determine nitrite, nitrate and thiocyanate in saliva. It was found that adjusting the pH of the sample to 11 and storing the saliva at 4 degrees C was adequate to make constant the nitrite/nitrate ratio in saliva samples at least 7 days.     

A novel method for the spectrophotometric determination of nitrite in water

A rapid, simple, selective and sensitive method for the spectrophotometric determination of nitrite in water has been developed and optimum reaction conditions along with other analytical parameters have been evaluated. Nitrite reacts with barbituric acid in acidic solution to give the nitroso derivative, violuric acid. At analytical wavelength of 310 nm, Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range 0.00–3.22 ppm of nitrite. The molar absorptivity is 15330 ± 259.7 (95%) with pooled standard deviation of 355.57 and R.S.D. of 2.32%. As well as the method is sensitive (2.99 × 10⁻³ μg NO₂ cm⁻²) and selective, it tolerates most of the potential interferents. It has been successfully applied to nitrite determination in natural waters by use of a calibration graph with determination limit of 1.66 μg NO₂ in 100 mL working solution corresponding to minimum 9.5 ppb NO₂–N in water samples. Lower concentrations of nitrite (3.0 μg NO₂/L sample) is precisely analyzed by using the method of dilution with sample, with R.S.D. of lower than 0.5%. The results were compared with standard N-(1-naphtyl)ethylenediamine dihydrochloride method and very good agreement between the data was observed. The method can easily be applied in the field.     

非镉柱还原-流动注射分光光度法检测硝酸盐

阐述了一种基于碱性条件下,采用还原液将硝酸盐还原为亚硝酸盐,从而实现淡水中硝酸盐的还原液-流动注射分光光度检测方法,通过优化实验确定了最优分析条件。硝酸盐浓度在50～2000μg/L范围内与峰高呈良好的线性关系,方法检出限3.5μg/L,相对标准偏差0.90%(n=15,500μg/L)。方法应用于环境水样中硝酸盐的检测,加标回收率为95.0%～100.2%。该方法避免了镉还原柱再生处理,简化了操作,易于实现无人值守式的在线自动监测。     

A new tool for inorganic nitrogen speciation study: simultaneous determination of ammonium ion, nitrite and nitrate by ion chromatography with post-column ammonium derivatization by Nessler reagent and diode-array detection in rain water samples

The paper presents a new method for a simultaneous determination of inorganic nitrogen species in the oxidized (NO₂⁻, NO₃⁻) and reduced (NH₄⁺) form in rain water samples. The method is based on a system of nitrogen species separation employing ion exchange and diode-array detection. The ions are separated in a strong ion-exchanger, nitrites and nitrates are determined directly at 208 and 205 nm, respectively, while the ammonium ions are determined in the column hold-up time after a post-column derivatization by the Nessler reagent, at 425 nm. The use of a diode-array detector permits a simultaneous identification of the inorganic nitrogen species in 8 min. The detection limits obtained are: NO₂⁻, 0.1 mg L⁻¹; NO₃⁻, 0.05 mg L⁻¹; NH₄⁺, 1 mg L⁻¹. The method proposed has been successfully used for speciation analysis of inorganic nitrogen in precipitation.     

An automatic gas-phase molecular absorption spectrometric system using a UV-LED photodiode based detector for determination of nitrite and total nitrate

An automatic gas-phase molecular absorption spectrometric (GPMAS) system was developed and applied to determine nitrite and total nitrate in water samples. The GPMAS system was coupled with a UV-light emitting diode photodiode (UV-LED-PD) based photometric detector, including a 255 nm UV-LED as the light source, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube of 14 cm as the gas flow cell, and an integrated photodiode amplifier to measure the transmitted light intensity. The UV-LED-PD detector was compact, robust, simple and of low heat production, comparing with detectors used in other GPMAS works. For nitrite measurement, citric acid was used to acidify the sample, and ethanol to catalyze the quantitative formation of NO₂. The produced NO₂ was purged with air flow into the UV-LED-PD detector, and the gaseous absorbance value was measured. The total nitrate could be determined after being reduced to nitrite with a cadmium column. Limits of detection for nitrite and nitrate were 7 μmol/L and 12 μmol/L, respectively; and linear ranges of 0.021-5 mmol/L for nitrite and 0.036-4 mmol/L for nitrate were obtained. Related standard deviations were 1.81% and 1.08% for nitrite and nitrate, respectively, both at 2 mmol/L. The proposed method has been applied to determine nitrite and total nitrate in some environmental water samples.     

Determination of nitrite and nitrate in Venice lagoon water by ion interaction reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Ion interaction reversed-phase liquid chromatography with octylammonium orthophosphate as the interacting reagent and a reversed-phase C₁₈ column was applied to the identification and determination of nitrite and nitrate in Venice lagoon water. Interference by the high chloride concentration was systematically studied and the results obtained with different column packings were compared. With spectrophotometric detection at 230 nm, nitrite at 0.005 mg 1^?1 can be detected and determined even in the presence of 0.70 M chloride. The dependence of the retention time of nitrite on the chloride concentration was studied for two reversed-phase columns with different packings. Concentrations of 0.30 ± 0.05 mg 1^?1 of nitrite and 0.20 ± 0.05 mg 1^?1 of nitrate were found in Venice lagoon water.