Applications of flow techniques in seawater analysis: A review

Flow analysis has been widely used in marine environmental monitoring applications due to its versatility, ruggedness, portability and excellent analytical figures of merit. Numerous scientific and technical literature and monographs have been published reporting the inclusion of different flow methods in standard analytical procedures. However, to the best of our knowledge, recently, there is no specific journal review that addresses the applications of flow techniques in seawater analysis (including estuarine, coastal and open ocean waters), which is more challenging for environmental analytical chemists. This paper summarizes the most relevant publications, from 2008 until the end of 2015, that refer to flow analysis of nutrients, metals, and carbonate system parameters, together with other related compounds in seawaters. It should be noted that, in order to be more specific to seawater analysis, this review excludes methods that are novel but have no application in saline samples, but especially includes those suitable for field or even in situ applications. Due to the rapid advances in flow analysis techniques in recent years and mounting global interest in marine environmental monitoring, this review is believed to be a relevant and timely resource for marine scientists, environmental chemists and analytical chemists.