CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS AS A ROUTINE INDUSTRIAL TOOL FOR QUANTITATIVE ANALYTICAL TESTING - DETERMINATION OF SODIUM DIMETHYLDITHIOCARBAMATE IN EFFLUENTS

The determination of a specific anionic species (sodium dimethyldithio carbamate) in waste water was performed by capillary electrophoresis w ith direct UV detection. The application of new technology sulfonic ac id polymer-coated capillary columns achieved sensitive analysis with r obust electroosmotic flow (EOF), where other coated columns and conven tional fused-silica had failed due to analyte adsorption problems. Opt imum conditions for the separation of cationic, neutral, and other ani onic species, including quantitative analyses of the analyte of intere st, were obtained. The relative standard deviations for the analysis o f anions were found to be 2.7 and 12.8% for 528 and 37 mu g/ml concent rations, respectively. The detection limit for sodium dimethyldithioca rbamate in waste water was established at 1 mu g/ml for typical sample size (2 ml) without preconcentration of the analyte. The usefulness o f capillary electrophoresis as a routine industrial monitoring tool wa s successfully demonstrated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.