Lead speciation by gradient high-performance liquid chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric detection

Abstract

Speciation of inorganic lead (Pb^II), triethyllead chloride (TEL), triphenyllead chloride (TPhL) and tetraethyllead (TTEL) was investigated using gradient high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Ion-pair reversed-phase chromatography was used. The detection limits were 0.37, 0.14, 0.17 and 3.9 ng of Pb for Pb^II, TEL, TPhL and TTEL, respectively. The reproducibility of peak height measurements ranged from 3.1 to 4.2%(relative standard deviation). The method was evaluated by analysing National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Material (SRM) 2715 Lead in Reference Fuel for tetraethyllead and a water Quality Control Sample from the Environmental Protection Agency for inorganic lead. Both the direct solution nebulization and HPLC–ICP-MS results compare favourably with reference values. The applicability of the method to other alkyllead compounds is discussed.