Determination of carbon disulphide in air as xanthogenate by ion chromatography and capillary electrophoresis

A simple and sensitive method is presented for the measurement of carbon disulphide in air without interference from other gaseous sulphides. The procedure is based on the collection of CS2 in an ethanolic solution of KOH, where it is converted to potassium ethyl xanthogenate (PEX). The latter is determined by high-performance ion chromatography (HPIC) and/or capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). Laboratory and field determination of detection limit, reproducibility and linearity, and specific advantages over other gas chromatographic and wet chemical methods, are discussed. Quantitative measurements of CS2 in air can be performed after sampling for 1 h with limits of detection as low as 15 ppb by HPIC and ca 0.1 ppm by CZE.