Yl. Shi et Bj. Johnson, DETERMINATION OF FORMALDEHYDE IN AIR BY ION-EXCLUSION AND ION-EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH PULSED AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION, Analyst, 121(10), 1996, pp. 1507-1510
A method is presented for the determination of formaldehyde in air sam
ple extracts containing aqueous sodium hydrogensulfite, Utilizing the
unique properties of its hydrogensulfite complex, formaldehyde is sepa
rated from other sample components by ion-exclusion and ion-exchange c
hromatography, then selectively detected by amperometry at a silver el
ectrode, Optimum sensitivity of detection was found to occur at +0.10
V versus a silver mire reference electrode using a strongly basic back
ground electrolyte, Using those as an internal standard, a linear resp
onse (r(2) >0.99) was observed for aqueous formaldehyde concentrations
in the range 0.02-10.0 mg l(-1); detection limits of <1 ng for formal
dehyde were obtained using a 50 mu l sample loop, The short-term repro
ducibility was better than 5% (as RSD). Analysis of laboratory air by
collection in impingers containing aqueous NaHSO3 yielded results cons
istent with previous literature values.