Kinetic spectrophotometric determination of formaldehyde in fabric and air by sequential injection analysis

A kinetic method for measuring formaldehyde by sequential injection analysis (SIA) with spectrophotometric detection was developed for the first time. The method was based on the inhibitory effect of formaldehyde on the ethyl green (EG)-sulfite reaction. The linear range for formaldehyde was 1.0-20.0 mug mL(-1); the detection limit was 0.020 mug mL(-1). The measurement rate was 130 sec, thus allowing to analyze 27 samples per hour, the total reagent consumption in a cyclical procedure is only 240 muL. The method was applied to the determination of formaldehyde in fabric and air, and compared with acetyl acetone spectrophotometric method.