Fluoride Analysis

Fluoride is part of our everyday lives, present in environment, soil, air, water, beauty products, drugs, and naturally present in foods and beverages. Fluoride in minute quantities is essential component for human health, for example, it helps in normal mineralization of bone and formation of dental enamel. However, prolonged ingestion or exposure to this anion at concentrations above recommended limits can produce mild to severe health problems. For example, it can cause dental fluorosis in the concentrations of 1.5-3 mg·kg^-1, and can cause skeletal fluorosis in the concentrations of 4-8 mg·kg^-1, where the bones are hardened and less elastic, increasing the frequency of fractures. In addition, relevant agencies in various countries have also made regulations and requirements for the content of fluoride in different products, materials, environments, etc. Therefore, the accurate determination and analysis of fluoride content is very necessary and meaningful.

Alfa Chemistry offers fluoride analysis service. We provide a range of analytical testing technologies for the measurement and characterization of fluoride in various samples covering solids, liquids and gases samples.

Analytical Technique

Alfa Chemistry offers a wide range of technical approaches for fluoride analysis.

Methods	Principle	Advantages	More information
Ion selective electrode (ISE) method	The principle is that when the fluoride electrode is in contact with the fluoride ions in the solution, its potential will change with the activity of fluoride ions.	The method is simple and reliable.	The method is widely accepted as a standard method for fluoride analysis.
Ion chromatography method	Ion chromatography uses the principle of ion exchange to quickly separate ions in the separation column, remove the strong electrolyte in the solution through the suppressor, and then get the conductivity of each ion to be measured by the detector.	The method owns the advantages of fast detection speed, good selectivity, less sample dosage and so on.	Currently, it is determined as the standard method for ion detection by many standards organizations, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American Water works Association (AWWA), etc.
Spectroscopic method	Spectroscopic method is based on the high affinity of fluorides to certain metals. A colored complex* can exchange its ligands with fluorides and then change the color of the solution. This change can be quantified using the Lambert–Beer law using spectrophotometric measurements.	The method has the longest application time and is simpler than ISE method	Note*: The colored complex refers to a complex formed by the reaction of aluminum, iron, thorium, zirconium, lanthanum or cerium with an indication dye. The commonly used colored complex is zirconium-SPADNS (4,5-dihydroxy-3-(4-sulfophenylazo)-2,7-naphthalene disulfonic acid) complex.

At Alfa Chemistry, in addition to the above-mentioned techniques, several other techniques including capillary electrophoresis, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, photon activation analysis, gas chromatography, chemosensors, among others, can also be applied for fluoride analysis.

Detectable Samples

Alfa Chemistry offers its expertise in fluoride analysis with a wide range of technical approaches to provide tailored support for each type of sample. These samples include but are not limited to the following:

• Environmental samples: water (drinking water, groundwater, surface water, industrial wastewater, etc.), air, soil, plants, etc.
• Biological samples and medicine: blood, drugs, dental products, etc.
• Food & daily necessities: tea, coffee, juices, toothpaste, mouth rinses, beverage, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, rice, barley, tobacco, etc.
• Others

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