PTFE capillary trap as a tool to monitor non-ionic surfactants in the aquatic environment

A method based on the separation of non-ionic surfactants (NS) in the PTFE capillary trap with final determination by the indirect adsorptive stripping tensammetry has been developed. The method is suitable for NS determination in river water, raw and treated sewage within the range of 2-10,000 μg l−1. The sample volume varies between 0.1 and 50 ml depending on NS concentration, and the time necessary for a single determination is approximately 15 min. This is several orders of magnitude better than determination with the recommended BiAS method. In environmental samples, recoveries ranges from 81 to 95% and precision ranges from 3 to 10%.