Fast Ion Chromatographic Method for the Determination of Formates in Alcoholic Drinks

Abstract

Monitoring of human exposure to formic acid is important due to its high biological activity. Elevated amounts of formic acid in the human body can cause serious damage to optical nerve, respiratory failure, renal failure, deep metabolic acidosis, coma, and eventual death from cardiovascular arrest. Such symptoms are characteristic for methanol poisoning owing to rapid enzymatic conversion of methanol into formic acid of substantially higher than methanol alone toxicity. Early diagnosis of methanol consumed and formic acid produced is essential for successful medical treatment. Small amounts of methanol can be introduced into the human body with alcoholic drinks (methanol can be a by-product of distillation and fermentation processes). A fast method for the determination of formates in commercial alcoholic drinks by the use of suppressed ion chromatography (IC) with conductometric detection has been developed. The applicability of two anion-exchange columns, Metrohm Metrosep A Supp 7 and Dionex IonPac AS9-HC, for selective detection of formates in mixtures with acetates and common inorganic ions occurring in such kind of samples was examined. Quantitative isolation of formates from the matrix can be reached in less than 10 min using 3.6 mmol/L Na 2 CO 3 as an eluent. Preliminary minimizing of alcoholic matrix by the evaporation (under IR source) allows to improve the quality of chromatographic results. The evaluated amounts of formates in two different Polish commercial products, BAbsolwent vodka^and BGolden Rum,^tested in the work were in the range of 0.2-3.1 mg/L. The 96-107% recoveries of the formates from the examined samples were found out.

Simultaneous Determination of Fluoride, Acetate, Formate, Chloride, Nitrate, and Sulfate in Distilled Alcoholic Beverages With Ion Chromatography/Conductivity Detector

“…Primarily, to eliminate the volatile compounds from the sample solution, a raki sample was exposed to an IR source obeying the method mentioned in the literature (29). However, even though all apparatus were covered with aluminum foil, only max half of the sample could be evaporated within 3 hours.…”

“…Also, Lachenmeier et al (34) found that there were no significant differences in anion concentrations between the same samples, which were bottled at different dates . Balcerzak and Kapica (29) analyzed formate by using the IC system. In their study, they eliminated the volatile compounds from the matrices by utilizing an infrared (IR) source.…”

“…The Gas Chromatography (GC) method for direct determination of 13 shortchain volatile organic acids including acetic acid in liquid foods was established, and a method based on continuous solid-phase extraction and GC method was reported for the direct determination of 29 organic acids including acetic acid in food and beverages (23,24). Similarly, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methods (25,26) (29,30) methods allowing simultaneous quantification of common inorganic anions and small organic acids. However, less sensitivity (31) and precision problems of CE methods make suppressed IC the most potent method for the simultaneous determination of anions in various beverages.…”

Ion chromatography coupled to Q-Orbitrap for the analysis of formic and oxalic acid in beehive matrices: a field study

“…To date, it has been reported a variety of methods for OA separation and detection, including spectrophotometry, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic (HILIC), ion chromatography, chemiluminescence, and enzymatic methods based on oxalate oxidase and oxalate decarboxylase [ 28 ]. As a powerful analytical method, ion chromatography (IC) can separate small organic acids such as FA in food and beverage samples [ 21 , 29 ]. Different detectors are used with IC, such as UV, conductivity, and mass detectors [ 21 , 30 ].…”

Ion chromatography in the liqueurs and spirits quality control

“…This method makes it possible to detect ions of lithium, sodium, ammonium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, strontium, barium, fluorides, chlorides, nitrites, phosphates, sulfates, etc. [8][9][10][11][12] Polish scientists have developed an express method [13] for determining organic and inorganic anions in vodka and rum samples, which within 35 minutes allows you to determine the main organic and inorganic anions contained in alcoholic beverages.…”