Determination of organotin compounds in environmental samples

Due to the impact of organotin compounds in the environment, a necessity ex ists for a rapid, sensitive and accurate analytical method to determine the levels of the compounds in the different environmental components. A varie ty of analytical techniques has been developed for the speciation of organo tin compounds. Most of them are based on gas chromatography (GC) connected with atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), flame photometry (FPD), mass spe ctrometry (MS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) or microwave-induced plasm a atomic emision spectrometry (MIP AES). Since GC requires volatility of an alytes, their derivatization into volatile species is usually indispensable . Direct GC of organotin halides without derivatization, however, could off er a highly selective and sensitive analytical technique for the trace dete rmination at the level of less than ng l(-1) in aquatic samples. As an alte rnative approach, high performance liquid chromatography, has become a popu lar technique. It mainly uses AAS, ICP-MS and fluorometry for the eluate de tection. ICP-MS has been applied practically because of its inherent select ivity and sensitivity.