Determination of oxidizable inorganic anions by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and application to the determination of salivary nitrite and thiocyanate and serum thiocyanate.

A sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of oxidizable inorganic anions (sulphide, thiocyanate, thiosulphate and nitrite) was developed by use of high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorimetric detection based on the formation of fluorescent cerium(III) by a redox reaction with cerium(IV). The detection limits are 0.1 nmol for both thiocyanate and nitrite, 0.3 nmol for thiosulphate and 0.8 nmol for sulphide per 10-microliters injection volume. This system can be utilized for the determination of salivary thiocyanate and nitrite and serum thiocyanate.