Flow injection analysis of nitrite by gas phase molecular absorption UV spectrophotometry

A violet light-emitting diode-based gas-phase molecular absorption device for measurement of nitrate and nitrite in environmental water

A simple and sensitive device for the detection of nitrite and nitrate in environmental waters was developed based on visible light gas-phase molecular absorption spectrometry. By integrating a detection cell (DC), semiconductor refrigeration temperature-controlling system (SRTCY), and nitrite reactor into a sequential injection analysis system, trace levels of nitrite and nitrate in complex matrices were successfully measured. A low energy-consuming light-emitting diode (violet, 400-405 nm) was coupled with a visible light-to-voltage converter (TSL257) to measure the gas-phase molecular absorption. To reduce the interference of water vapor, an SRTCY was used to condense the water vapor on-line before the gas-phase analyte entered the DC. The DC was radiatively heated by the SRTCY to avoid water vapor condensation in the light path. As a result, the obtained baseline noise reduced 3.75 times than that of without SRTCY. Under the optimized conditions, the device achieved limits of detection (3σ/k) of 0.055 and 0.36 mmol/L (0.77 and 5.04 mg N/L) for nitrite and nitrate, respectively, and the linear calibration ranges were 0.1-15 mmol/L (R2 = 0.9946) and 1-10 mmol/L (R2 = 0.9995), respectively. Precisions of 5.2 % and 9.0 % were achieved for ten successive determinations of 0.3 mmol/L nitrite and 1.0 mmol/L nitrate, and the analytical times for nitrite and nitrate determination were 5 and 13 min, respectively. This method was validated against standard methods and recovery tests, and it was applied to the measurement of nitrite and nitrate in environmental waters. Moreover, a device was designed to enable the field measurement of nitrite and nitrate in complex matrices.

Sequential flow injection analysis of ammonium and nitrate using gas phase molecular absorption spectrometry

A flow injection method on the basis of gas phase molecular absorption is described for the sequential determination of ammonium and nitrate. Two hundred microliters of sample solution is injected into the flow line. For ammonium determination, the sample zone is directed to a line in which reacts with NaOH (13M) and produces ammonia. But for nitrate determination, the sample zone is passed through the on-line copperized zinc (Zn/Cu) reduction column and produces ammonium ion and in the follows ammonia. The produced ammonia in both cases is purged into the stream of N(2) carrier gas. The gaseous phase is separated from the liquid phase using a gas-liquid separator and then is swept into a flow through cell, which has been positioned in the cell compartment of an UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The absorbance of the gaseous phase is measured at 194nm. Under selected conditions for sequential analysis of ammonium and nitrate, linear relations were found between the peak heights of absorption signals and concentrations of ammonium (10-650mugml(-1)) and nitrate (20-800mugml(-1)). The limit of detections for ammonium and nitrate analysis were 8 and 10mugml(-1), respectively. The relative standard deviations of repeated measurements of 50mugml(-1) of ammonium and nitrate were 2.0, 2.9%, respectively. Maximum sampling rate was about 40 samples/h. The method was applied to the determination of ammonium in pharmaceutical products and the sequential determination of ammonium and nitrate in spiked water samples.

Determination of preservatives in meat products by flow injection analysis (FIA)

Various preservatives are added to meat products to extend shelf-life and enhance food safety; thus, their determination is essential for legislative purposes and consumer health. Analytical methodologies based on flow injection analysis (FIA) offer attractive advantages compared with other procedures, such as versatility, precision, low cost, speed and ease of automation. This review considers the status of published FIA methodologies for the determination of preservatives in meat products. The techniques are described regarding their application to different preservatives (nitrates and nitrites, sulfites, sorbates, benzoates and p-hydroxybenzoate esters), with emphasis on extraction, separation, detection and quantification procedures in meat matrices.

Novel oxidative coupling reactions of cisapride or metaclopramide with phenoxazines and their applications in the determination of nitrite at trace level in environmental samples

Phenoxazine (PNZ), 2-chlorophenoxazine (CPN) and 2-trifluoromethylphenoxazine (TPN) were used as new class of spectrophotometric reagents for the determination of nanoamounts of nitrite in presence of cisapride (CSP) and metaclopramide (MCP) as new electrophilic coupling reagents. The methods were based on the oxidation of CSP or MCP by nitrite in hydrochloric acid medium and coupling with PNZ, CPN or TPN to yield red color derivatives which were stable for about 3h and having an absorbance maximum in the range 520-530 nm. Beer's law is obeyed for nitrite in the concentration range 0.08-0.80 and 0.13-1.60 microg ml(-1) for phenoxazine-cisapride and phenoxazine-metaclopramide, respectively. The optimum reaction conditions and other important analytical parameters were established to enhance the sensitivity of these methods. Interference due to various non-target ions was also investigated. The methods were applied to the analysis of nitrite in environmental samples. The performance of proposed methods were evaluated by Student's t-test and variance ratio F-test indicated the significance of proposed methods over the reference spectrophotometric method (Association of Official Analytical Communities (AOAC) method for the determination of nitrite in water samples).