The Estimation of Zinc in Sea Water using Sodium Diethyldithiocarbamate

Extract

Sea water contains very little zinc. Values from 0–73 mg. per cubic metre have been cited in Physics of the Earth, V, 180, Washington, 1932. According to Orton it is less than 0–1 parts per million in the English Channel. Dieulafait found 2 nig. and Bodansky 7–3, erroneously quoted as 73 above. The method described here permits of the detection of as little as 8 mg. per m³ using 200 ml. of distilled water in a Hehner tube, the delicacy of the reaction being much greater than that of any other for zinc. Sea water from the English Channel gives no turbidity and so is unlikely to contain as much as 8 mg. per m³. The method is brought forward on account of its usefulness in detecting and estimating zinc in sea water contaminated by contact with metallic surfaces. Its use in fresh water has already been described (Analyst, 1935, 60, p. 400, No. 711, June), and to this paper reference may be made for some possible sources of interference and for the origin of the reagent.