Rapid detection of perchlorate in groundwater using capillary electrophoresis

Summary

Perchlorate is a groundwater contaminant originating from facilities that manufacture and test solid rocket fuel. A new technology, capillary electrophoresis, has the potential to measure perchlorate rapidly and inexpensively in water samples. With its speed and simplicity, this method would complement existing methods. The perchlorate anion is routinely detected in water samples using high performance ion exchange chromatography, a very sensitive yet time consuming and expensive method. In this work, the parameters for detection of perchlorate are optimized to permit detection of 0.400 mgL⁻¹ perchlorate in a standard solution. The usefulness of this technology is demonstrated for measuring perchlorate in several ground-water samples from the Western United States. The results demonstrate that CE can be used to rapidly screen environmental samples for perchlorate at intermediate to high levels (greater than 0.400 mgL⁻¹). This technique allows faster, easier screening of potential contamination sites and could complement the use of ion exchange chromatography for groundwater testing.