Page 443 - Tandem Techniques
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The effect of the chelating ragent, however, is quite striking. The presence of the chelating reagent not
only allows some compounds to be eluted and measured (without the agent they are held irreversibly on
the column) but it also effects the sensitivity of the test very significantly. The authors also
demonstrated that the retention times of the solutes were changed and the monobutyltin and dibutyltin
were not eluted in the absence of the chelating agent. The detection limit of any specific tin species was
reported to be 0.7 ng of tin.
An example of the assays of two samples of mussel digestive glands, one after exposure for 9 days to 5
ng/l of tributyltin, the other unexposed, is shown in Figure 10.15.
Figure 10.15
The Assay of Mussel Digestive Glands
After Exposure to Tributyltin (ref. 26)
It is seen that the method is extremely useful and the amount of uptake of tin by the mussel from such a
low concentration of tributyltin in the sea water is quite surprising. The LC/AES tandem instrument is
clearly extremely useful for monitoring heavy metal contamination of the environment.
