Determination of lanthanum by flame photometric titration

The flame emission of lanthanum at 560 mmu decreases linearly with phosphate concentration until a 1:1 molar ratio is reached, and then remains practically constant. Lanthanum can be titrated with phosphate, the equivalence point being detected from the change in emission intensity. Errors due to consumption of solution by the atomizer can be kept low by using short spraying times and low galvanometer damping. The average error is about -1% for 0.1M solutions and less than -5% for 0.01M. The method gives good results in the presence of titanium(III), zirconium, thorium and aluminium but cerium(III) and yttrium seriously interfere.