Detecting and circumventing sources of inaccuracy in flow analysis*
Elias A. G. Zagatto, Fábio R. P. Rocha, Patrícia B. Martelli,
and Boaventura F. Reis
Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade
de São Paulo, Box 96, Piracicaba SP 13400-970, Brazil
Abstract: Mechanized procedures for chemical analyses are susceptible
to systematic errors usually difficult to trace. This holds also for
flow analysis that although accepted worldwide may sometimes yield inaccurate
results. The present work focused on the development of a simple system
able to detect and circumvent sources of inaccuracy. The versatility
inherent in the multicommuted flow analyzers was exploited for real-time
characterization of the source of inaccuracy and overcoming the problem
for every assayed sample. Specific situations where the analytical results
are more susceptible to inaccuracy are emphasized.
* Lectures presented at the 11th European
Conference on Analytical Chemistry (EUROANALYSIS XI), Lisbon, Portugal,
3 —9 September 2000. Other presentations are published in this
issue, pp. 1-54.
