DETERMINATION OF BARIUM AND STRONTIUM IN CALCIUM-CONTAINING MATRICES USING HIGH-PERFORMANCE CHELATION ION CHROMATOGRAPHY

High-performance chelation ion chromatography involving dye-coated res ins has been used to determine barium and strontium in samples of mine ral water and milk powder containing several orders of magnitude highe r levels of calcium and other alkali and alkaline earth metals. Detect ion limits of 0.03 mg dm(-3) were achieved for both barium and stronti um. The technique was used to determine both metals in a river water c ertified reference material and all results were compared to inductive ly coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy producing overall good agreement between the two methods.