Determination of ultra-traces of anthracene in water samples by solid-phase spectrofluorometry

Abstract

A rapid method for the determination of anthracene ultratraces in water by solid-phase fluorometry is described.Anthracene is fixed on C-18 silica to give fluorescence at λex=357nm and λex=405nm wavelengths. An anthracene-silica-gel system packed in a 1mm quartz cell was measured directly using a solid-surface attachment. The applicable concentration range was 50-1000ng dm-3 with a relative standard deviation of 0.7% and a detection limit of 21ng dm-3. The method was applied to the determination of anthracene in natural, tap and seawater samples. The recoveries were 100, 105 and 110%, respectively. The method is very simple and more sensitive than other methods described in the literature.