Toxic pollutant analysis

Methods for the determination of pollutants in water

To solve this problem, instrumental methods of modern analytical chemistry are used, based on the measurement of various physical and chemical properties of the detected substances or products of their chemical transformations using analytical instruments.

An exceptionally powerful means of controlling the pollution of various environmental objects is chromatographic methods that allow analyzing complex mixtures of components. Gas and high performance liquid and ion chromatography acquired the greatest value. Gas chromatography is effective in the analysis of multicomponent mixtures of volatile organic substances.

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is used in the analysis of mixtures of many pollutants, primarily non-volatile. Using highly sensitive detectors: spectrophotometric, fluorometric, electrochemical, it is possible to determine very small quantities of substances. When analyzing mixtures of complex composition, the combination of chromatography and mass spectrometry is especially effective. Using HPLC, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, nitrosamines and other toxic organic compounds are determined.

To analyze traces of organic water pollutants, it is necessary to carry out extraction and concentration, due to the very low level of concentration of these substances. Your AutoTrace automated solid phase extraction system and the Rocket solvent evaporator will be invaluable.

Ion chromatography is convenient when analyzing cationic and anionic compositions of various types of water. The types of water are very diverse: the process water used in production may have a different composition depending on the tasks; municipal drinking water, the control of which is the most important task of ensuring the health of the population; high-purity water, which is used in thermal and nuclear power plants, requires special control, and, finally, wastewater and emissions from enterprises and utilities. In this case, the analysis by the method of ion chromatography in most cases does not require sample preparation: if necessary, the sample is filtered and diluted. In addition, ion chromatography, in contrast to the obsolete routine methods of “wet chemistry,” allows the determination of a group of ions at once, for example, inorganic anions and organic acids for one analysis, or alkali, alkaline earth metals and amines also for one analysis. In this case, the components of the sample can be in different concentration ranges.

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