Simultaneous Determination of Arsenic and Antimony Species in Environmental Samples using Bis(trifluoroethyl)dithiocarbamate Chelation and Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

Simultaneous separation and quantitation of arsenic(III) and antimony(III) can be achieved by extraction with lithium bis(trifluoroethyl)dithiocarbamate followed by supercritical fluid chromatographic (SFC) analysis. Arsenic(V) and antimony(V) are extracted after reduction with potassium iodide and sodium thiosulfate. Detection limits of 7 pg As and 11 pg Sb are achieved using this extraction method and SFC. Application to natural water and biological sample analysis is discussed.