Rapid and selective detection of nitrite in ham sausage and water samples by a portable gas pressure meter

A facile and portable method was established for the detection of nitrite (NO 2 - ) by a portable gas pressure meter. NO 2 - and sodium cyclamate were reacted specifically under acidic condition, cyclohexene and nitrogen were thus generated, the pressures of reaction bottles were measured by a portable gas pressure meter. The pressures in bottles were increased gradually and proportional to the increase of NO 2 - concentration, the detection of NO 2 - was thus achieved. This method ensured good selectivity for the detection of NO 2 - and avoided interferences from other coexisting ions. In the range of 2–100 mg L −1 (43–2174 μmol L −1 ), the gas pressure was linearly correlated with the NO 2 - concentration, and a limit of detection of 0.65 mg L −1 (14 μmol L −1 ) was obtained. The developed method was further used for NO 2 - detection in water and ham sausage samples, recoveries of 94–106 % were obtained. It is a potential simple, rapid, portable analytical system/method for on-site detection of NO 2 - .