Abstract
Anionic surfactants are commonly determined with the use of the methylene blue active substances (MBAS) standard method, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, new methods for determination of anionic surfactants are needed. In this study, the standard MBAS method for determination of anionic surfactants was modified and adjusted to work in a continuous flow system combined with spectrophotometric measurement. The developed method was found to be satisfactory in terms of sensitivity and precision, with a short time of analysis. The quantification limit for anionic surfactants was at 16 μg L(-1), with a relative standard deviation of 1.3 % for a model sample and 3.8 % for a river water sample. The results obtained for environmental samples were comparable to those obtained by using the standard MBAS method; however, the developed continuous flow method is faster, more sensitive and consumes smaller doses of chemical reagents.