The Role of Automation in the Analysis of Manganese in Environmental Water Samples

Abstract

Manganese is considered an emerging pollutant and it is perceived as a potential threat to human health and aquatic ecosystems. The need to determine and monitor the presence of Mn in environmental water requires increasingly precise and accurate chemical analytical techniques that provide reliable information to take timely measures in the event of potential environmental contingencies. The automation by flow analysis technique has allowed analytical procedures to isolate and preconcentrate manganese in environmental water samples. Additionally, it brings forth benefits such as greatly enhancing the sample processing capacity and a reduced time and reagent usage, leading to cost savings and minimized waste production, thereby aligning with the principles of green chemistry. In this review, a recent report of some flow analysis techniques (FIA, rFIA, SIA, MSFIA, LOV, and MPFS) is presented, highlighting the trend of automation, whose portability and miniaturization allow for complete in situ analysis. There are two remarkable analytical features from the studies evaluated here, which are sample throughput and accuracy, with a maximum processing time of 120 samples h−1 and an accuracy of 98%. The implementation of flow analysis techniques offers several advantages, such as miniaturization and portability. The discussed methodologies achieved limits of quantification as low as 0.26 µg L−1, enabling environmental monitoring that can easily detect the reference value of 0.05 mg L−1, established by the WHO and the EPA.