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WATER ANALYSIS
Citation:
Richardson, S D. WATER ANALYSIS. Analytical Chemistry 71(12):181R-215R, (1999).
Description:
This review covers developments in water analysis from November 1996 to the end of October 1998, as found in the Chemical Abstracts Service CA Selects for gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, inorganic analytical chemistry, and pollution monitoring. In addition, because developments in the measurement of microorganisms is a fast-growing area, an effort was made to include up-to-date, important results as presented at the most recent Water Quality Technology Conference in November 1998. Microorganism studies have not appeared in previous Water Analysis reviews, but due to their increased importance, particularly with regard to outbreaks of illness from pathogenic organisms in drinking water and to new regulations for controlling them, they are included in this review. Also, in general, health effects studies are not covered in this review; however, a few significant ones are presented, as they relate to the ingestion of drinking water or to the toxicity of surface water. Numerous abstracts were consulted before choosing the best ones to present here. If an abstract was generally unclear or ambiguous, it was generally excluded. If the subject matter of the abstract appeared to be of a routine nature, with no new, significant findings, it was also generally excluded. For the most part criteria used for inclusion of a paper are in keeping with previous criteria used by former authors of prevous Water Analysis reviews. Further details of these criteria can be found in the 1991 Water Analysis review (Anal. Chem. 1991, 63, 301R-342R). Also, previous reviews of water analysis have focused mostly on methods development. This review contains not only important new methods but also important new findings or studies that were very comprehensive or particularly interesting. Because most water analysis publications involve environmental samples, this review was carefully coordinated with the Environmental Analysis review to minimize redundancies. In dividing the material to be covered, it was decided to cover drinking water entirely in this review, along with regulatory methods/regulations, microorganisms, general water quality/ nutrients, and QA/QC. Studies of pesticides and other pollutants in surface waters, groundwaters, seawaters, and wastewaters can be found in the Water Analysis Applications section of the Environmental Analysis review, also found in this issue of Analytical Chemistry.