Determination of Bismuth in Bottled and Mineral Water Samples at Trace Levels by T-Shaped Slotted Quartz tube-Atom Trap-Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

An accurate and reliable analytical method for the determination of bismuth at trace levels in bottled and mineral water samples has been developed based on hydrogen assisted T-shape slotted quartz tube-atom trap-flame atomic absorption spectrometry (T-SQT-AT-FAAS). Conventional FAAS is not sufficiently sensitive to measure trace and ultra-trace levels of metals due to the low nebulization efficiency and short residence time of atoms in the light path. To overcome this problem, atom trapping with a T-shaped slotted quartz tube was coupled to the FAAS system. Bismuth atoms were trapped on the surface of T-SQT and released by hydrogen gas, which provided a reducing environment. All of the system parameters such as flame type, hydrogen flow rate, the height of T-SQT from the burner head, and trapping period were optimized to enhance the analytical signal to attain low detection limits. After obtaining the optimum conditions, the limit of detection and limit of quantitation of the developed method were found to be 0.95 and 3.2?µg L^?1, respectively. Recovery values were obtained between 90% and 104% that showed good accuracy and applicability of the proposed method to the analysis of bottled and mineral water samples.     

Measurement of radon concentration in groundwater in the Ashanti region of Ghana

Radon in groundwater and their annual effective dose in the Ashanti region of Ghana have been determined using the continuous grab sampling technique and an AB-5 detector. Mean levels of radon were in the range of 0.51–46.16 Bq L^?1. Effective annual doses ranged from 0.18–16.16, 0.13–12.08 and 0.09–8.31 μSv y^?1 for infants, children and adults, respectively. These values are significantly lower than the reference level of 0.1 mSv y^?1 recommended by the WHO and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation for members of the public.     

Accurate and simple determination of oxcarbazepine in human plasma and urine samples using switchable-hydrophilicity solvent in GC–MS

This work presents a sensitive and rapid analytical method for the determination of oxcarbazepine in human plasma and urine samples. A vortex-assisted switchable hydrophilicity solvent-based liquid phase microextraction (VA–SHS–LPME) was used to preconcentrate oxcarbazepine from the samples before the determination by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The switchable hydrophilicity solvent was synthesized by protonating N,N-dimethylbenzylamine with carbon dioxide to make it totally miscible with an equivalent volume of water. Parameters of the VA–SHS–LPME method including volume of switchable hydrophilicity solvent, concentration/volume of sodium hydroxide and vortex period were systematically optimized. Under the optimum conditions, good linearity ranging from 27.03 to 353.47 μg/kg was obtained for the analyte. Limit of detection and quantitation values were found to be 6.2 and 21 μg/kg (mass base), respectively. The relative standard deviation was calculated as 6.9% for six replicate measurements of the lowest concentration of the calibration plot. Satisfactory recovery results were calculated in the range of 97–100% for human plasma and urine samples spiked at five different concentrations.     

Simultaneous Determination of Fluoxetine,Estrone, Pesticides,and Endocrine Disruptors in Wastewater by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) Following Switchable Solvent–Liquid Phase Microextraction (SS–LPME)

A simple and sensitive analytical method for the determination of fluoxetine, estrone and selected pesticides and endocrine disruptors has been proposed for wastewater analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). A switchable solvent was produced with N,N-dimethylbenzylamine by changing its hydrophobic properties by the addition of CO₂ for protonation. Sodium hydroxide was added to switch the solubility of the extraction solvent and to allow phase separation in the sample/standard medium. Analytical parameters affecting the extraction outputs such as volume of switchable solvent, concentration and volume of sodium hydroxide, mixing type and period were investigated to improve the extraction recovery of the selected analytes. Under the optimum conditions, limits of detection and limits of quantification for the analytes were calculated in the ranges of 0.16–8.6?ng mL^?1 and 0.54–29?ng mL^?1, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to synthetic wastewater and two municipal wastewater samples. None of the selected analytes were detected in the samples. High recovery values demonstrated that the proposed method was reliable and applicable to complex matrices.     

Arsenic speciation in water and biota samples at trace levels by ion chromatography inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

A sensitive, reliable, simple and rapid analytical method was developed for the determination of arsenite [As(III)], arsenate [As(V)] and arsenobetaine (AsB) species using ion chromatography combined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS). Inorganic and organic arsenic species were separated with an anion exchange column (Dionex AS9) and a 50 mM sodium bicarbonate mobile phase (pH 10) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. %RSD values were found to be lower than 5.1% for all arsenic species. The limits of detection (LOD) obtained for As(III), As(V) and AsB were 16.5 ng L^?1, 14.1 ng L^?1 and 6.2 ng L^?1, respectively. The developed analytical method was tested using AsB certified reference material (NMIJ CRM 7901-a), and spring water certified reference material (UME CRM 1201) for accuracy check. This method was applied for the quantitative determination of arsenic species in different water samples and chicken samples as a solid matrix.