Pretreatment of oily samples for analysis by flow injection-spectrometric methods

This review presents a critical discussion of selected reports dealing with the pretreatment methods of oily samples and the determination of their organic and inorganic constituents using flow systems and spectrometric methods. Special emphasis is given to the on-line couplings with detection systems based on UV-visible spectrophotometry and spectrofluorimetry, atomic absorption spectrometry either with flame or electrothermal atomization as well as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry or inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Simple dilution with organic solvents, digestion with concentrated acids under thermal heating, microwave or ultrasound radiation and emulsification procedures are mostly used. The empirical preparation of certain organized assemblies like micelles, emulsions and specially microemulsions added to the confusion of some of the terms, demand a brief description of their characteristics, the correct formulation and some of their applications to the manipulation and treatment of oily samples. The analytical capabilities of combining flow manifolds with spectrometric methods for the determination of specific parameters in oily samples apparently have not been sufficiently exploited yet.