Simultaneous determination of urinary phosphate and sulphate by ion-chromatography

An ion-chromatographic system was used for the simultaneous determination of urinary phosphate and sulphate. This method was compared with conventional methods (colorimetric, turbidimetric) with regard to practicability and reliability. All methods showed good precision and accuracy. The comparative analysis of phosphate in 80 samples revealed that both methods lead to identical results. However, in case of sulphate a significant difference of about 8% was found between the two methods. Overestimation of the analyte concentration by the turbidimetric method might be responsible for this difference. From the point of view of economy, routine analysis of urinary phosphate and sulphate by ion-chromatography is acceptable only if automated systems are used.