High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of humic acid in environmental samples at the nanogram level using fluorescence detection |
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Authors: | M Susic K G Boto |
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Affiliation: | Australian Institute of Marine Science, Queensland. |
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Abstract: | A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of humic acid in environmental samples is presented. The humic acid is chromatographed as its sodium or calcium complex, eluting as a single, sharp peak. Coral skeletal matter, sea water, river water, soils and plant matter were successfully analysed. The detection limit is 15 ng. The relative standard deviation for a coral skeletal sample is 1.9%. Unusual chromatographic properties such as the occurrence of peak broadening with increased concentration appear to be due to a slow change in the equilibrium composition of humic acid. In solution, fulvic acid showed similar properties to humic acid. |
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