Analytical methods for determination and sensing of fluoride in biotic and abiotic sources: a review

Detection and characterization of fluoride is an important part of understanding the benefits as well as the potential toxicity of fluoride in biotic and abiotic natural sources. Fluoride can have a detrimental effect on human health at high concentrations (>1.5 mg L-1), thus, it must be detected and quantitated. For this analytical methods play an important role. This review underlines the role of analytical methods in the detection and quantitation of fluoride. The review highlights a variety of analytical methods, for instance, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and molecular absorption spectrometry (MAS), and electrochemical methods that have been applied in the determination of fluoride. The principles of these techniques in conjunction with their pros and cons, and their applications regarding the determination and detection of fluoride are discussed. The commonly used fluoride sensing methods, including fluorescence and colorimetric methods have also been discussed. We hope this review will promote the next generation approaches and application of innovative analytical methods for fluoride detection and quantification.