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QUANTITATION OF PERCHLORATE ION: PRACTICES AND ADVANCES APPLIED TO THE ANALYSIS OF COMMON MATRICES
Citation:
Urbansky*, E T. QUANTITATION OF PERCHLORATE ION: PRACTICES AND ADVANCES APPLIED TO THE ANALYSIS OF COMMON MATRICES. CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL, 30(4):311-343, (2000).
Description:
In 1997, low level perchlorate contamination (<50 ng mL-1 or parts per billion) was discovered in the western United States. Since that time, it has been found in sites scattered around the nation. Although the Environmental Protection Agency has not established a regulation for perchlorate in drinking water, it has placed perchlorate on the contaminant candidate list (CCL) and the unregulated contaminants monitoring rule (UCMR). A provisional and unenforceable concentration of 18 ng mL-1 will stand until at least late 2000 when EPA hopes to issue a revised toxicological assessment. However, the need for techniques and methods for determining perchlorate is not constrained to environmental chemistry. Perchlorate salts are used pharmaceutically in Europe to treat Graves' disease and amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis. Ammonium perhclorate is used as a solid oxidant in space shuttles and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Thus, methods and techniques are necessary for quality control and quality assurance. Moreover, analysis of explosives and post-explosion residues have made quantitation of perchlorate important in forensic chemistry. A variety of techniques is available: gravimetry, spectrophotometry, electrochemistry, ion chromatograph6, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry-each has its strengths and weaknesses. Within each technique, assorted methods are available with corresponding limits of detection. As the breadth of matrices undergoing analysis expands from potable water to agricultural runoff, fertilizers, fruit jiuices, or physiological and botanical fluids, the potential risk for interference becomes greater. As toxicologists demand lower and lower limits of detection, it falls to analytical chemists to ensure selectivity and sensitivity go hand-in-hand. In the near future, we can expect refinements in sample pretreatment and clean-up as well as anlaytical methods geared towards geared towards analyzing more complex matrices.