Applications environmental analysis

Table 5-49. Special fields of application environmental analysis.

Environmental Applications Although ion-selective electrodes find use in environmental analysis, their application is not as widespread as in clinical analysis. Standard methods have been developed for the analysis of CN , F , NH3, and in water and wastewater. Except for F , however, other analytical methods are considered superior. By incorporating the ion-selective electrode into a flow cell, the continuous monitoring of wastewater streams and other flow systems is possible. Such applications are limited, however, by the electrode s response to the analyte s activity, rather than its concentration. Considerable interest has been shown in the development of biosensors for the field screening and monitoring of environmental samples for a number of priority pollutants. 

Environmental Analysis One of the most important environmental applications of gas chromatography is for the analysis of numerous organic pollutants in air, water, and wastewater. The analysis of volatile organics in drinking water, for example, is accomplished by a purge and trap, followed by their separation on a capillary column with a nonpolar stationary phase. A flame ionization, electron capture, or... 

L. D. Betowski, and T. L. Jones, The Application of High Peformance Eiquid Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry to Environmental Analysis, Report EPa 600/4-89/033, Washington, D.C., 1989. 

Trace enrichment and sample clean-up are probably the most important applications of LC-LC separation methods. The interest in these LC-LC techniques has increased rapidly in recent years, particularly in environmental analysis and clean-up and/or trace analysis in biological matrices which demands accurate determinations of compounds at very low concentration levels present in complex matrices (12-24). Both sample clean-up and trace enrichment are frequently employed in the same LC-LC scheme of course, if the concentration of the analytes of interest are Sufficient for detection then only the removal of interfering substances by sample clean-up is necessary for analysis. 

E. A. Hoogendoom and P. van Zoonen, Coupled-column reversed phase liquid chromatography as a versatile technique for the determination of polar pesticides in Environmental Analysis - Techniques, Applications and quality assurance, Barcelo D (Ed.), Vol. 13, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 181-196 (1993). 

Multidimensional chromatography has important applications in environmental analysis. Environmental samples may be very complex, and the fact that the range of polarity of the components is very wide, and that there are a good many isomers or congeners with similar or identical retention characteristics, does not allow their separation by using just one chromatographic method. 

The use of multidimensional chromatography in environmental analysis has been reviewed in the literature (1-6). Of the multidimensional systems described in previous chapters, GC-GC liquid chromatography LC-LC and LC-GC, whose applications to environmental analysis will be detailed in this chapter, are the ones most often used in environmental analysis. 

Other multidimensional systems, such as supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC-GC or LC-SFC), will not be described here because, although some applications to environmental analysis have been described (4, 7-9), they have not been very widely used in this field. 

In general, capillary gas chromatography provides enough resolution for most determinations in environmental analysis. Multidimensional gas chromatography has been applied to environmental analysis mainly to solve separation problems for complex groups of compounds. Important applications of GC-GC can therefore be found in the analysis of organic micropollutants, where compounds such as polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) (10), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) (10) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (11-15), on account of their similar properties, present serious separation problems. MDGC has also been used to analyse other pollutants in environmental samples (10, 16, 17). 

Most applications in environmental analysis involve heart-cut GC-GC, while comprehensive multidimensional gas chromatography is the most widely used technique for analysing extremely complex mixtures such as those found in the petroleum industry (21). 

Important developments in LC-GC have been made by Grob and co-workers (79-81) and by the Brinkman group (82-87), who have mainly studied the application of this technique to environmental analysis. This coupled technique has usually been applied to water, although air and soil extracts have also been analysed. 

D. E. Wells, Environmental analysis. Techniques, Applications and Quality Assurance. Bai celoD, (Eds.), Elsevier Amsterdam, pp. 80-109 (1993). 

High performance thin-layer chromatography has found its greatest application in the areas of clinical (e.g. analysis of drugs in blood) and environmental analysis. 

Recent Uses of Solid-Surface Luminescence Analysis in Environmental Analysis. Vo-Dinh and coworkers have shown very effectively how solid-surface luminescence techniques can be used for environmentally important samples (17-22). RTF has been used for the screening of ambient air particulate samples (17,18). In addition, RTF has been employed in conjunction with a ranking index to characterize polynuclear aromatic pollutants in environmental samples (19). A unique application of RTF reported recently is a personal dosimeter badge based on molecular diffusion and direct detection by RTF of polynuclear aromatic pollutants (20). The dosimeter is a pen-size device that does not require sample extraction prior to analysis. 

Wise SA (1993) Standard reference materials for the determination of trace organic constituents in environmental samples. In Barcelo D, ed. Environmental Analysis Techniques, Applications and Quality Assurance, pp 403-446. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Wise SA, and Schantz MM (1997) Standard reference materials for the determination of trace organic contaminants in environmental samples. In Clement R and Siu M, eds. Reference Materials for Environmental Analysis Making and Using Them, pp 143-186. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL. 

The development of sensitive and inexpensive immunoassays for low molecular weight pesticides has been an important trend in environmental and analytical sciences during the past two decades. 0.27-29 jq design an immunoassay for a pesticide, one can rely on the immunoassay literature for agrochemicals, " but many of the innovations in clinical immunoanalysis are also directly applicable to environmental analysis. - Conversely, the exquisite sensitivity required and difficult matrices present for many environmental immunoassay applications have forced the development of technologies that are also useful in clinical immunoassay applications. In the following discussion we will describe widely accepted procedures for the development of pesticide immunoassays. 

Applications The majority of SFE applications involves the extraction of dry solid matrices. Supercritical fluid extraction has demonstrated great utility for the extraction of organic analytes from a wide variety of solid matrices. The combination of fast extractions and easy solvent evaporation has resulted in numerous applications for SFE. Important areas of analytical SFE are environmental analysis (41 %), food analysis (38 %) and polymer characterisation (11%) [292], Determination of additives in polymers is considered attractive by SFE because (i) the SCF can more quickly permeate throughout the polymer matrix compared to conventional solvents, resulting in a rapid extraction (ii) the polymer matrix is (generally) not soluble in SCFs, so that polymer dissolution and subsequent precipitation are not necessary and (iii) organic solvents are not required, or are used only in very small quantities, reducing preparation time and disposal costs [359]. 

Fluorescence is much more widely used for analysis than phosphorescence. Yet, the use of fluorescent detectors is limited to the restricted set of additives with fluorescent properties. Fluorescence detection is highly recommended for food analysis (e.g. vitamins), bioscience applications, and environmental analysis. As to poly-mer/additive analysis fluorescence and phosphorescence analysis of UV absorbers, optical brighteners, phenolic and aromatic amine antioxidants are most recurrent [25] with an extensive listing for 29 UVAs and AOs in an organic solvent medium at r.t. and 77 K by Kirkbright et al. [149]. 

Applications Speciation analysis is particularly important in plant and animal biochemistry and nutrition (food/food supplements), clinical biochemistry, industrial chemistry and environmental chemistry. In the... 

Shpol skii Spectroscopy and Other Site Selection Methods Applications in Environmental Analysis, Bioanalytical Chemistry and Chemical Physics. Edited by C. Gooijer, F. Ariese and J.W. Hofstraat... 

An important application field of factor and principal component analysis is environmental analysis. Einax and Danzer [1989] used FA to characterize the emission sources of airborne particulates which have been sampled in urban screening networks in two cities and one single place. The result of factor analysis basing on the contents of 16 elements (Al, B, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Si, Sn, Ti, V, Zn) determined by Optical Atomic Emission Spectrography can be seen in Fig. 8.17. In Table 8.3 the common factors, their essential loadings, and the sources derived from them are given. 

Pillon A, Boussioux AM, Escande A, Ait-Aissa S, Gomez E, Fenet H, Ruff M, Moras D, Vignon F, Duchesne MJ, Casellas C, Nicolas JC, Balaguer P (2005) Binding of estrogenic compounds to recombinant estrogen receptor-alpha application to environmental analysis. Environ Health Perspect 113 278-284... 

R. Feeney and S.P. Kounaves, Microfabricated ultramicroelectrode arrays developments, advances, and applications in environmental analysis. Electroanalysis 12, 677-684 (2000). 

The versatility and the robustness of CE separation in conjunction with the extreme sensitivity inherent to CL-based reactions make a combination of both techniques promising for application in a wide range of fields, including environmental analysis, biomedicine, and biological research and practice. Obviously, in comparison with other detection modes widely incorporated in CE, CL detection is a slowly evolving technique and advances should focus on the development of new detectors that are instrumentally simpler than existing systems and that offer the ability to detect various types of analytes at trace levels. 

Although this book focuses on high-throughput analyses in the pharmaceutical industry, applications in environmental analysis are closely related. The same technologies are applicable to both fields. Pharmaceuticals have been monitored as pollutants in surface water, soil, food, and human plasma. In environmental applications, as many as 30 to 40 analytes have been monitored simultaneously. 

Oubina A, Ballesteros B, Bou Carrasco P, Galve R, Gascdn J, Iglesias F, Sanvicens N, Marco MP (1999) Immunoassays for environmental analysis. In Barcelo D (ed) Sample handling and trace analysis of pollutants techniques, applications and quality assurance. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 287... 

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