Ion chromatography–hydride generation‐atomic fluorescence spectrometry speciation of tellurium

The speciation of tellurium was carried out using atomic fluorescence spectrometry as an element‐specific detector in hybridization with liquid chromatography and hydride generation. Good resolution could be obtained by anion‐exchange chromatography with complexing agents, using a mobile phase with 8 mM EDTA and 2 mM potassium hydrogenphthalate. Analysis time was less than 6 min. Calibration graphs were linear between 2 and 100 µg l^?1. Detection limits were 0.6 µg l^?1 and 0.7 µg l^?1 for tellurium(VI) and tellurium(IV) respectively. The method was applied to the speciation of tellurium in drinking water and wastewater samples from different metallurgical industries. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.