CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANIC SULFUR-COMPOUNDS IN SURFACE-WATER BY ION-PAIR ADSORPTION UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS

Organic sulphur compounds belong to the main pollutants of surface water. Due to their hydrophilic character, analytical determination has been severely hampered. In a new concept, which uses ion-pair formation, the advantages of integrated quantification and chromatographic determination are unified. Three solid phase methods for enrichment of organic sulphur compounds were applied to gain information on their character. The integrated determination with ICP-AES led to the conclusion that ion-pair adsorbable organic sulphur mainly reflects the different organic sulphonic acids. The example of naphthalene-1,5-disulphonic acid shows that the individual acids can be assigned using LC with UV and fluorescence detection. The methods were applied to determine organic sulphur compounds along the River Rhine, and a sulphonic acid was followed through a water treatment plant down to a level of 0.1 mug l-1.