Determination of trace bromate in various water samples by direct-injection ion chromatography and UV/Visible detection using post-column reaction with triiodide

Bromate is a disinfection by-product generated mainly from the oxidation of bromide during the ozonation and disinfection process in order to remove pathogenic microorganism of drinking water, and classified as a possible human carcinogen by International Agency for Research of Cancer (IARC) and World Health Organization (WHO). For the purpose of determining the trace level concentration of bromate, several sensitive techniques are applied mostly based on suppressed conductivity detection and UV/Visible detection after postcolumn reaction (PCR). In this study, the suppressed conductivity detection method and the PCR-UV/Visible detection method through the triiodide reaction were compared to analyze the trace bromate in water samples and estimated for the availability of these analytical methods. In addtion, the state-of-the-art techniques was applied for the determination of trace level bromate in various water matrices, i.e., soft drinking water, hard drinking water, mineral water, swimming pool water, and raw water. In comparison of two analytical methods, it was found that the conductivity detection had the suitable advantage to simultaneously analyze bromate and inorganic anions, however, the bromate might not be precisely quantified due to the matrix effect especially by chloride ion. On the other hand, the trace bromate was analyzed effectively by the method of PCR-UV/Visible detection through triiodide reaction to satisfactorily minimize the matrix interference of chloride ion in various water samples, showing the good linearity and reproducibility. Furthermore, the method detection limit (MDL) and recovery were 0.161 ㎍/L and 101.0-108.1 %, respectively, with a better availability compared to conductivity detection.