A Field Method for the Determination of Copper in Estuarine Waters

A precise and sensitive solvent extraction-colourimetric technique has been developed for the determination of dissolved copper in saline waters, using a reagent of established selectivity. The limit of detection and operating range of the technique have been improved to cover copper concentrations found in estuaries and contaminated coastal waters. The limit of detection of the technique is estimated as 0.5 μg l−1. Data for spiking recovery and long term standard deviation of determination are reported. Analytical data produced by this technique for over forty estuarine samples are compared with corresponding analyses by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry.