Determination of lead, mercury and cadmium by liquid chromatography using on-column derivatisation with dithiocarbamates

Abstract

The combination of HPLC with direct injection and on-column derivatisation provides a method for the multi-element identification of metals in pollution studies. However, problems have occurred when this technique has been applied to the determination of heavy metal ions. In this work the reasons for these difficulties has been studied and a modification of the procedure enabling lead, cadmium and mercury(II) ions to be determined is suggested.