Development of a new automated speciation analyser - result of an international interdisciplinary co-operation between scientific and industrial partners

The importance of monitoring trace-element species is increasingly recognised. Such methods are needed for risk assessment of many potentially hazardous substances, such as methylmercury and tributyltin, for example for environmental or food control, medicine or workplace monitoring. Atomic spectro-metric techniques alone are incapable of determining elemental species directly, because the relevant information about oxidation or metal-binding state is lost in the atomisation step. As a result, these methods must be combined with separation techniques in order to obtain methods that are highly sensitive as well as species selective. To develop new analytical methods and procedures for element speciation interdisciplinary research is essential. Accordingly, an international interdisciplinary consortium was formed to develop the new automated speciation analyser (ASA). Analytical chemists and physicists from several European institutes and two industrial companies co-operated in this project. As a result, the continuous exchange of scientific results and practical experience, combined with consideration of the needs of routine analytical laboratories, led to the development of an industrial prototype for trace-element speciation. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.