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.