A new spectrophotometric method for determination of EDTA in water using its complex with Mn(III)

EDTA is an important ligand used in many industrial products as well as in agriculture, where it is employed to assist in phytoextraction procedures and the absorption of nutrients by plants. Due to its intensive use and recalcitrance, it is now considered an emerging pollutant in water, so there is great interest in techniques suitable for its monitoring. This work proposes a method based on formation of the Mn(III)-EDTA complex after oxidation of the Mn(II)-EDTA complex by PbO2 immobilized on cyanoacrylate spheres. A design of experiments (DOE) based on the Doehlert matrix was used to determine the optimum conditions of the method, and the influence of the variables was evaluated using a multiple linear regression (MLR) model. The optimized method presented a linear response in the range from 0.77 to 100.0 mu mol L-1, with analytical sensitivity of 7.7 x 103 L mol(-1), a coefficient of determination of 0.999, and a limit of detection of 0.23 mu mol L-1. The method was applied using samples fortified at different concentration levels, and the recoveries achieved were between 97.0 and 104.9%. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.