Utilization of a copper solid amalgam electrode for the analytical determination of atrazine

A copper solid amalgam electrode was prepared and used for the voltammetric determination of atrazine in natural water samples by square wave voltammetry. This electrode is a convenient substitute for the hanging mercury electrode since it is selective, sensitive, reliable and inexpensive and presents low toxicity characteristic. The detection limit of atrazine obtained in pure water (laboratory samples) was shown to be lower than the maximum limit of residue established for natural water by the Brazilian Environmental Agency. The relative standard deviation for 10 different measurements was found to be only 3.98% in solutions containing 8.16 x 10(-6) mol L-1 of atrazine. In polluted stream water samples, the recovery measurements were approximately 70.00%, sustaining the applicability of the proposed `methodology to the analysis of atrazine in such matrices.