It is widely recognized that glassware is product of silica, however, now no longer all analysts are privy to the quantity to which touch with laboratory glassware can contaminate water samples, reagents and fashionable answers. Although numerous textbooks at the evaluation of silicon have cited the capacity infection because of the usage of glassware for pattern garage (Strickland and Parsons, 1972; Grasshoff et al., 1983; APHA et al., 1995), erratic silicate evaluation outcomes had been attributed to storing water samples in glass containers (Morse et al., 1982). Although the usage of plastic bottles to shop silicate samples is famous today, glass volumetric flasks are nevertheless robotically hired for making ready silicate requirements in lots of laboratories. The diploma to which laboratory glassware can contaminate water samples, reagents and fashionable answers has now no longer been quantitatively characterized. To date, no direct dimension demonstrating the quantity of laboratory glassware infection and the elements which have an effect on the diploma of infection had been reported.

In this brief observe we gift experimental outcomes demonstrating the quantity of silicate infection below consultant laboratory situations whilst glassware is used for the garage of water samples, reagents and fashionable answers.

2. Materials and methods
A collection of experiments have been finished to look at the kinetics of silicate dissolution from traditional Pyrex volumetric flasks. The six 500-ml volumetric flasks used to shop water samples have been rinsed with 1 N HCl accompanied through water. The flasks have been stuffed and stored desk bound withinside the darkish at room temperature to simulate traditional garage situations. They have been neither stirred nor agitated in any manner for the duration of garage. Consequently, the flasks have been shaken to homogenize any dissolved silicate earlier than samples will be taken from the flasks. Samples have been taken at hourly durations for 7 h. An Alpkem Flow answer machine changed into used to carry out the silicate evaluation. The exact technique is given elsewhere (Zhang and Berberian, 1997). In summary, β-molybdosilicic acid is fashioned through response of the silicate contained withinside the pattern with molybdate in an acidic answer. The β-molybdosilicic acid is then decreased through ascorbic acid to shape molybdenum blue. The absorbance of the molybdenum blue is measured at 660 nm. The approach has a detection restriction of zero.05 μM. All reagents have been of analytical grade (Aldrich, WI, U.S.A.). Sodium hexafluorosilicate changed into used to put together silicate requirements. The water used on this observe changed into made out of a Millipore-SuperQ machine. Seawater used changed into received from the floor of the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida. Salinity of seawater changed into decided through a Guildline Model 8400B autosalinometer. Seawaters of diverse salinities have been organized through dilution of Gulf Stream seawater with the purified water. pH of answer changed into measured through a tumbler electrode and a Corning Model 250 ion analyzer.

3. Results and discussion
We first examined the dissolution of silicate in seawaters over more than a few salinity from zero to 36 (PSU). No dissolution changed into detected withinside the flask containing natural water (salinity identical to zero, pH of 5) inside 7 h (see Fig. 1). In seawater, dissolution kinetics accompanied a standard sample of preliminary speedy growth and asymptotic technique to an equilibrium most awareness as visible in research on quartz dissolution in aqueous answer (Dove and Rimstidt, 1994). Moreover, the quantity of dissolution relies upon upon the salinity. The preliminary quotes of dissolution anticipated from the growth in silicate awareness withinside the first hour as a characteristic of pattern salinity are proven in Fig. 2. The preliminary price of dissolution multiplied with salinity accomplishing a most at salinity of 27 and reducing at salinity