Rapid Assessment of Water Quality Changes Based on Fluorescence Excitation-Emission Matrix

Drinking Water
Poster Presentation

Prepared by G. Vial, R. Marfil-Vega, S. Dahal
Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, 7102 Riverwood Drive, Columbia, MD, 21046, United States


Contact Information: Gilbert Vial, gdvial@shimadzu.com; 410-910-0926

ABSTRACT

Characterization of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by Fluorescence Excitation-Emission Matrix (FEEM) is becoming a widely applied tool for assessing changes in water quality. This methodology is suitable for determining the fingerprint of DOM’s various components (ex. humic and fulvic materials, proteins…) and also identifying specific compounds, such as chlorophyll. Given the observed changes in the occurrence and seasonality of Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs), rapid screening tools for chlorophyll-a are needed to better prepare and manage these events. FEEM is a suitable alternative for this purpose, as sample preparation and measurements is are less time consuming than that required in Standard Method 12000H for the quantitation of Chlorophyll, and due to the fact that fluorescence is a very sensitive technique. In this poster, performance of the Shimadzu RF-6000 Spectrofluorophotometer for the fingerprinting of DOM and detection of chlorophyll-a present in samples from different water sources, namely, tap water and surface water, will be presented.