New procedure for multielemental speciation analysis of five toxic species: As(III), As(V), Cr(VI), Sb(III) and Sb(V) in drinking water samples by advanced hyphenated technique HPLC/ICP-DRC-MS

• Multielemental determination of As(III), As(V), Cr(VI), Sb(III) and Sb(V) species.
• Anion-exchange HPLC coupled to ICP-DRC-MS.
• Full separation with use of gradient elution program in 15 min.
• Detailed analytical procedure validation.
• Application to drinking water samples characterized by low mineralization.

Analytical procedure dedicated for multielemental determination of toxic species: As(III), As(V), Cr(VI), Sb(III) and Sb(V) in drinking water samples using high performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC/ICP-DRC-MS) technique was developed. Optimization of the detection and separation conditions was conducted. Dynamic reaction cell (DRC) with oxygen as a reaction gas was involved in the experiments. Obtained analytical signals for species separation were symmetrical, as studied by anion-exchange chromatography. Applied mobile phase consisted of 3 mM of EDTANa2 and 36 mM of ammonium nitrate. Full separation of species in the form of the following forms: H3AsO3, H2AsO4−, SbO2−, Sb(OH)6−, CrO42− was achieved in 15 min with use of gradient elution program. Detailed validation of analytical procedure proved the reliability of analytical measurements. The procedure was characterized by high precision in the range from 1.7% to 2.4%. Detection limits (LD) were 0.067 μg L−1, 0.068 μg L−1, 0.098 μg L−1, 0.083 μg L−1 and 0.038 μg L−1 for As(III), As(V), Cr(VI), Sb(III) and Sb(V), respectively. Obtained recoveries confirmed the lack of interferences' influence on analytical signals as their values were in the range of 91%–110%. The applicability of the proposed procedure was tested on drinking water samples characterized by mineralization up to 650 mg L−1.

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