Casein/ferric chloride/polyvinyl alcohol composite for specific in-syringe colorimetric detection of formaldehyde in Hevea brasiliensis latex.

A new, simple, and selective colorimetric method of determining formaldehyde in Hevea brasiliensis latex was developed by using a casein/ferric chloride/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel composite (casein/FeCl3/PVA) in a modified Leach test. Under heating, formaldehyde reacted with 8% casein in the presence of 0.1% FeCl3 and 4.3% HCl (v/v) entrapped in a 30% PVA hydrogel packed in a syringe. A purple-colored product was formed with a maximum absorbance of 525 nm. The color change was evaluated at the color detection zone indicated on the the syringe. The %magenta values were easily evaluated by using a mobile phone application and employed to determine formaldehyde content. The casein/FeCl3/PVA composite gave a readable response in a formaldehyde detection range from 0.04 to 0.80% with a linear response between %magenta and formaldehyde concentration (R2 = 0.9955). The detection limit was 0.032%, and precisions were in the range 0.67-4.94%. The casein/FeCl3/PVA composite was applied to the analysis of ammonia-preserved latex samples, and recoveries of formaldehyde from samples spiked at 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5% ranged from 81.55 to 99.51% (RSDs ≤ 5.41%). The recoveries and precision of the proposed method were comparable with those of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The developed method was also selective, showing no interference from other latex preservatives, i.e., phenol, ammonia, or tetramethylthiuram disulfide.