Photometric method for the determination of nitrite in aqueous solutions and in blood

Summary The sensitivity of the hitherto known determinations of nitrite by formation of azo dyes and photometric measurement in aqueous solution is limited by the concentration of nitrite. In the method described here the azo compound formed is extracted into toluene and trichloroacetic acid is added to the extract. Immediately after addition of the latter the colour intensity reaches its maximum and is measured at 560 nm. In this way the sensitivity is made independent of the nitrite concentration in the aqueous solution and is limited only by the sample volume available.This study was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.