Determination of traces of silver in waters by anion exchange and atomic absorption spectrophotometry

A method has been developed for the accurate determination of 0.1–1 μg of silver per liter of water. The method permits stabilization of silver in water without loss to container walls. Optimum conditions have been established for the complete recovery of silver from water with an anion-exchange column, for quantitative elution of silver from the resin, and for measurement of silver by atomic absorption spectrophotometry after chelation with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate and extraction of the chelate with MIBK. Silver in the 1–10 μg1">μg1 range can be determined by extraction without pre-concentration on an ion-exchange resin.