Spectroscopic detection of aqueous contaminants using in situ corona reactions.

An apparently novel technique to aid the detection of a variety of inorganic and organic compounds in environmental and drinking water samples is described. Background absorbance due to optical scattering, cell fouling, and a variety of contaminants is suppressed by combining UV spectroscopy with chemical reactions initiated by reactive species generated in a high-voltage corona discharge. Injection of the reactive species takes place through a free water surface from the "corona wind". Initial measurements on aqueous chlorine in drinking water and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) in unfiltered river water down to parts-per-million concentration are given which show, by comparison with a conventional UV absorption measurement, good background suppression. The experimental arrangement is simpler than that in typical fluorescence detection systems, and the geometrical flexibility means that corona "dosing" can be applied also to Raman and other spectroscopies, to electrochemical detection schemes, and to planar and windowless geometries.