The application of gibberellic acid to the determination of trace amounts of lead by spectrofluorimetry

The ionization constant of fluorescent reagent gibberellic acid (GA) was established spectrophotometrically. The fluorescent reaction of this reagent with lead was studied. Based on this chelation reaction, a sensitive, direct spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of trace lead with use of GA has been developed. The reaction conditions for the fluorescence system of lead with GA were studied. The lead ion can form a stable binary chelate with GA, having a ratio of 1:2 in the pH range 7.0-8.0. The maximum excitation and emission wavelengths arc 205.0 nm and 308.8 nm for the lead chelate, respectively. The reaction is instantaneous and the fluorescence intensity of the lead chelate remains stable from 20 to 150 min. Under the optimal experimental conditions the fluorescence intensity is a linear function of concentration in the range 1.0-10.0 ng/mL of lead and the detection limit is 0.52 ng/mL of lead. Interferences of other ions were studied. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of lead in common paint.