Liquid chromatographic determination of acrylamide monomer in natural and polluted aqueous environments

Abstract

An analytical procedure is described for the determination of acrylamide monomer in natural and polluted waters. The procedure consists of bromination, extraction of the α, β-dibromopropionamide with ethyl acetate and quantification using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultra-violet detection. A detection limit of 0.20 µg l^–1 of acrylamide has been achieved using water samples. Samples tested included river, sea and estuarine waters, sewage and china clay works effluents and potable waters.