Determination of trace formaldehyde in environmental samples by a catalytic kinetic spectrofluorimetric method

A new fluorimetric method is established for the determinedation of trace formaldehyde.The fluorescence quenching of pyrrole-red can be fastened by formaldehyde for the oxidation of potassium bromate in sulfuric acid medium.It is shown that under the optimum experimental condition,the detection limit and linear range for formaldehyde measurement are 6.1 ng/mL and 8～200 ng/mL,respectively.This method has been applied to determining trace formaldehyde in foodstuffs and in air.The results thus obtained show good agreement with those determined by acetyl acetone method.