Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter
12
Other Instrumental Methods
in Environmental Analysis
12.1 HYPHENATED MASS SPECTROMETRIC METHODS AND APPLICATIONS
12.2 NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY (NMR)
12.3 MISCELLANEOUS METHODS
REFERENCES
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
This chapter introduces several very different topics of instrumental methods. These
instrumental techniques are included altogether in Chapter 12, partially because they
have not been routinely used in many environmental labs at the present time. The
high cost (up to $150,000 and even several million dollars) and the operational
requirement for skilled analysts are the major obstacle for the widespread
applications. However, the use of these instruments in research communities has
been increasing. In fact, two of these techniques (ICP-MS and GC-MS) have
recently become common instruments in many environmental labs. It is very likely
that the popularity of other instrumental techniques for daily environmental uses will
be significantly increased in the future.
These advanced techniques include inorganic (ICP-MS), organic (GC-MS
and LC-MS) mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for
quantitative measurement as well as for structural identification (NMR is not
commonly used for quantification analysis). Several other specialized techniques are
scanning electron microscopes for surface analysis, radiochemical analysis, and
immunoassays for screening purposes. Because of the diversity and the specialty of
these topics, this chapter is by no means the inclusion of essential details, but rather,
it is described in a very elementary and condensed form as compared to the
preceding chapters. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce awareness to the
readers about these advanced or specialized analytical techniques with regard to
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