ICP-spectrometric determination of the total tin content in the water of the Azov and Black Seas

The paper considers the possibility of determining the total content of tin in various forms of presence in the waters of the Azov and Black Seas, which differ in salinity. Organotin compounds, when present in waters, interfere with the determination of inorganic forms of tin by direct injection by ICP spectrometry. It is shown that before determining the total content of tin in various forms of presence in waters with organotin compounds, microwave mineralization of the analyzed samples is required, under which a quantitative conversion to the inorganic form of tin is ensured. The highest efficiency of decomposition of water samples was achieved using oxidizing mixtures based on nitric acid (5.0 см3 HNO3; 4.0 см3 HNO3 + 1.0 см3 HCl и 3.0 см3 HNO3 + 2.0 см3 H2О2). Limits for the determination of tin (LOQSn) in solutions prepared in deionized and model sea waters with different salinities have been established. According to the proposed scheme of analysis for ICP-AES, the LOQSn values in water samples from the Azov and Black Seas were 0.40 and 0.47 µg/dm3, respectively, with direct injection of the sample. In the ICP-MS determination of LOQSn also increases with increasing water salinity and ranges from 0.03 (deionized water) to 0.45 μg/dm3 (model sea water with a salinity of 18 ‰). The developed scheme of analysis made it possible to determine the total content of tin, considering all forms of its presence in sea waters. Satisfactory convergence of the results of analyzes after microwave mineralization of waters is observed for ICP-AES determination of the total tin content in the range from 0.45 to 10.0 μg/dm3, and for ICP-MS in the range from 0.40 to 5.00 μg/dm3. In the analyzed water samples of the Azov and Black Seas, the total tin content was found to be 0.20 and 0.23 µg/dm3, respectively.