Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Analytical chemistry
Languages : en
Pages : 16
Book Description
Organometallic compounds occur in the environment as a result of anthropogenic and biogenic processes. Since organometals are often much more toxic than the corresponding inorganic forms of metals, it is important to be able to speciate the forms of metals in environmental samples at ultratrace levels. Chemical speciation methods, based on the use of chromatographic separations followed by element-selective detection, have been developed in our laboratories and elsewhere. These methods, described in part in this paper, are helping us to measure organometal species at their action levels (down to parts-per-trillion levels) in environmental matrices, leading to a better understanding of environmental occurrence, fate, effects, and transformation. New methods for nondestructive analysis of metal species on surfaces are under development.