On the determination of total dissolved tin in natural waters by direct hydride generation and non-dispersive atomic-fluorescence spectrometry.

The analytical response of inorganic tin and of eleven organotin compounds of the type R(n)SnX(4-)(n) (with n = 1, 2, 3 and R = methyl, ethyl, butyl and phenyl) was compared for direct hydride generation with non-dispersive atomic fluorescence detection. Most of these compounds showed behaviour resembling that of inorganic tin, with the exception of tributyltin and the phenyltin compounds. A simple pretreatment with 10(-3)M bromine and 0.033M nitric acid at 70 degrees for 60 niin prevents any risk of underestimation and the total dissolved tin in natural waters can be determined with recoveries better than 90%, with inorganic tin as calibration standard.