Monitoring of aromatic amines by HPLC with electrochemical detection: comparison of methods for destruction of carcinogenic aromatic amines in laboratory wastes

A new chemical method for destruction of carcinogenic aromatic amines in laboratory wastes has been developed. The method is based on enzymatic oxidation of the amines in solution (with hydrogen peroxide and horseradish peroxidase), followed by oxidation of the solid residues with permanganate in sulphuric acid medium. To monitor the efficiency of destruction, a reversed-phase HPLC system has been developed, with voltammetric detection with a carbon-fibre detector, which is substantially more sensitive (detection limits from a few ng down to a few pg of amine) than the commonly used ultraviolet photometric detection. It has been demonstrated that the proposed method of destruction is highly efficient (99.8% destruction).