Environmental monitoring of wastewater using capillary ion electrophoresis

Capillary ion electrophoresis (CIE) is a capillary electrophoretic technique which has been developed for the rapid analysis of low-molecular-mass inorganic and organic ions. Anion and cation analysis of wastewater samples from a meat processing plant will be discussed. The wastewater samples were collected above, at point of discharge, and at various points downstream from the plant. The purpose of the analysis was to investigate dilution effects of the wastewater as it mixes with the stream water. CIE allows for rapid analysis times (typically less than 5 min) with little sample preparation required.