Analytical Methods for the Determination of Heavy Metals in Water

Abstract

The presence of heavy metals in aqueous systems is a topic of continuous concern in the scientific community due to their high toxicity, coupled to their increasing applications and irresponsible waste management, which demand for a tight control and evaluation of their impact on natural systems. In this respect, analytical chemistry plays a fundamental role for the development and application of more efficient methods and techniques for their quantification. Nevertheless, challenges related to low concentrations, species distributions and complex matrices can only be overcome with novel, effective and cost-efficient methods that lead to reliable results. This chapter presents an overview of the most used analytical methods for the quantification of trace heavy metals in aqueous samples. It includes an in-depth discussion of several spectroscopic and electrochemical analytical techniques for heavy metal determination and a section dedicated to the growing field of sample preparation based on novel preconcentration techniques. Special emphasis is made on modern developments aimed to the improvement of the sensitivity and limits of detection and on the importance of speciation analysis, a fundamental yet still undervalued aspect of the integral evaluation of the presence and impact of heavy metals in waters.